More Weirdness
by Yterbius
Summary: The Dazzlings are ruined. They were this close. Or was it that close? Anyway, they're banished from the stage right after they unsuccessfully try singing again.
1. Chapter 1: The Banishment

Adagio's POV

We were humiliated. Pelted with tomatoes, popcorn, and anything else small. We fled the stage, unconcerned of where we were headed. When we stopped in an alleyway, we clutched our shards tightly, as we tried to sing, albeit horribly off-key. I blamed Aria and Sonata for everything bad.

"This is all YOUR fault, you two. If you hadn't been so hotheaded, Aria, and you clueless, Sonata, we would have done it."

"Hey don't blame me, Adagio. This is all Sonata's fault. She's the worst."

"I am not."

"Would you three SHUT UP?! I'm trying to sleep."

I whipped my head to the right, and I saw some blue kid with black hair, a cowboy hat, and a raggedy red hand-stitched blanket.

"Sorry, kid. These two just happen to be the worst."

"No problem. Would you mind being the leader of the worst ELSEWHERE?! The ground is uncomfortable, and I happen to be a light sleeper, so I would appreciate some quiet."

I thought for a minute, then I kneeled in front of him, and asked if he knew of a place we could stay.

"Listen, you're great and all, but I am not a tour guide, alright?"

"Listen, how about you come with me, and we'll find somewhere decent to go."

"Fine. Sheesh, can't get any sleep anymore."

We all walked for what seemed like hours before we found an abandoned house. We decided to inhabit this place.

"Uh, Adagio, shouldn't we knock first?"

"Sonata, it's abandoned."

"Yeah, Sonata, it's like the inside of your skull."

"Shut up, Aria."

"So those are your names, eh? I'm Jake. Nice to meet you three."

He stuck out his hand, and we all shook it one at a time. As we explored the place, we identified the bedrooms. I was glad we found three, because I could not bunk with the other two, and there was no way in Tartarus I was gonna sleep with a boy.

"I'll just take this smaller one. You girls choose between the other two."

He left, and I took the other small one almost immediately.

"See you in the morning, you two."

Sonata's POV

Aria and I chose our beds, and I was glad to hear that we chose different ones almost instantly. As much as I wanted to apologize, I was also really tired. And I was sure Aria would just be angrier if we slept together.

As I climbed onto my bed, I wondered if it really was my fault that we lost in our battle. I was a pretty weak link in our trio.

I couldn't sleep that night. I figured it wasn't like I needed to anyway. I was an immortal being, so things like fatigue, hunger, thirst, and other things didn't ever come to me. But then, about a week or two ago, I realized that I was no longer in a siren body.

I suddenly realized that I had no way to get home, and I started crying. I was deciding whether or not to run away from these guys. I finally made my decision.

As soon as I knew the other three were asleep, I got up from my bed, and walked out of the room. I then checked the front door, and when they didn't stir at its squeak, I ran out.

I was crying, and I was headed towards the school. I didn't care what happened to me, just so long as I knew my sisters knew I was gone.

As I got closer to the school, I learned that I wasn't alone. Jason, or whatever his name was, had been following me.

"What're you doing, Sonny? Your sisters will be worried sick."

"They're not sisters. We're monsters."

"What're you talking about?"

"We're sirens, three dangerous creatures that used our voices to cause chaos, and we fed off that chaos, making us stronger. We almost had control of the entire world of Equestria, and we—"

"Hold on. Equestria?"

"A world separate from this one. Everyone is a pony, and there are four types: Earth, pegasi, and unicorns."

"Sounds like that weird TV show, "My Little Pony."

"What's teevee?" I asked as I tried to pronounce the odd word.

"Nevermind. What were you trying to say?"

"Oh yeah. We would've ruled the world if Starswirl the Bearded hadn't banished us to this stupid place."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Anyway, here we are, three of us, trying to dominate Canterlot High School with our voices, and just when we had absolute control, those Rainbooms had to destroy our chances–as well as our pendants, which, by the way gave us our singing abilities. We fled from the stage, and argued about whose fault it was, and you know the rest."

"Huh. Whodathunkit?"

We stood in silence.

A really long time.

I broke the silence.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Honestly, no, but you seem like you're definitely in a rut."

"Well, I am, but if you hate me now, I don't blame you."

"Hey, I could never hate you. You seem like you've changed your tune. Why did you run out here, though?"

"I've always been the weak link in our group. I was the dumb one, I was the worst, and I couldn't handle it."

"Well if you decide you're not the weakling anymore, you know where I'm staying."

He turned, and left.

I called after him. "How did you even know I ran off?"

"I told you, I'm a light sleeper."

And that was all he said before I couldn't see him anymore.

I turned in the other direction, and ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care anymore. As long as I was away from those two meanies, I was glad. I decided to catch my breath at some bakery. I was told it was called Sugarcube Corner.

I decided to stay by the back door, where there was another blanket, similar to Jake's, but it was pink. I wrapped myself in it as best as I could, and to my relief, it was rather large, almost enough to cover everything, but my head slightly stuck out. As I looked over, I saw a big puff of cotton, so I stuck out my arm, and it was just long enough to reach it, and I used it as a pillow.

**A/N: This is the Dazzlings fanfic I said I would do. If you don't like, don't continue. If you like, good for you. If you have the desire to hate me for this, here's what you should do first:**

**["Dumb Ways to Die"]**

**Then you can hate.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Reunion

Aria's POV

When I woke up the next morning, I looked at the bed in front if me, and it was empty. I was a little satisfied, but also worried. We needed Sonata if we were to ever have a chance to get back home.

I went to Adagio's room, and she was asleep. I didn't bother to wake her, because I knew she was a heavy sleeper. I went to the guy's bedroom, but it was also empty. Then I smelled something I hadn't smelt before. It was kinda salty, and it was delicious.

I went down and saw the guy making something that looked like red stripes. He also appeared to be making something yellow and white. Over to the side, I saw some orange juice.

"Hey there, Aria."

"How do you know my name?"

"You girls were arguing right above me last night in the alleyway, remember? And you say Sonata's dumb."

"Do you know where she is? Tell me you do."

"Sorry, 'fraid not."

"Rgh. Why can't that idiot ever stay in one place?"

"Could have something with you addressing her by things other than 'Sonata.' YOW, that's HOT!"

I slightly chuckled as he placed his hand on the pan.

"Careful, you goof, the pan happens to be hot."

"Oh, ha ha."

"What are those?"

"This is bacon, and those are eggs."

"They look delicious."

"They ARE delicious."

"Can I try some? Yowch, that's hot."

"Careful, you goof, the pan happens to be hot."

"Ah, shut up."

"Hey, you two, where's Sonata?"

"She left. Don't know where, but she had some problems with you two meanies."

"Ugh, she is just the worst."

"Actually, Aria, that title belongs to both you and her."

"And that is because...?"

"Didn't you hear me? You two are meanies."

"You have no authority to—"

"Oh shut up. I can kick you two out of this house. I have the legal authority. Don't question, just accept."

"Not until I see some proof."

"Hey guys, could you bring me those papers?"

Suddenly, a few boys showed up behind him. The green one held up a legal document that stated he legally owned the house.

"Why were you on the street?"

"I like convincing performances."

"*sputtering* Fine."

"Alright. No more arguing. Let's just calm down."

"Hey guys."

"Hey there, Sonata. What're YOU doing here?"

"That's it. I'm done." Jake walked towards Sonata.

"Why do you let them do this? Why?"

"Because they hate me."

"We don't hate you. We really care about you."

"You sure have a strange way of showing it."

"Who asked you, Jake?"

"I could've sworn I said something rather important not even two minutes ago. Ring any bells?"

"Rrrgh, you."

"Sonata, are they always this grumpy, or did I screw up somewhere?"

"It's not you."

*beeping*

"Great, I burned my bacon and eggs. Thanks a lot, you two."

"Wha—"

"Don't shut up, you get this."

"Dang, I was hungry."

"Well, now you get the chance to be VERY hungry."

"Oh well, I wasn't really that hungry anyway "

"Looks like someone knows how to stay positive." He looked at Sonata while he said that.

"It just comes natur—YIPE, THAT BURNS!"

Jake and I looked at each other and laughed a bit.

Jake's POV

I turned off the stove, and I put the pan in the sink. As I went to deactivate my smoke detector, Sonata followed me. I was confused at first, but then I shrugged it off. However, she was giving me puppy eyes the whole time, so thus made the whole situation slightly uncomfortable for me.

"Can I help you, Sonata?"

"No, I just wanna learn things."

"Why?"

"Just in case...you know."

"Huh...oh yeah. That's cool. So here's how you deactivate a smoke detector when it goes off."

*yabbering*

"...and that's all you really need to know."

"Wow, that DOES sound important."

"As long as you follow that piece of advice carefully, you should be fine."

"Interesting."

"Why don't you find a good book to read?"

"You don't have any books."

"Right. I gotta go. See ya."

"Where are you going?"

"I work at the bookstore."

"But you don't have books."

"I know. Ironic, ain't it?"

"Oh well. See ya."

And he left.

**A/N: I wanted to have them stay with Dashie originally, but my subconscious had other plans. So, yeah.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Attack

Jake's POV

I didn't wanna lie to these girls, but I figured if Sonata wasn't kidding, then these girls could potentially spell trouble. I actually went to Canterlot High School.

I went out the front door and snuck the guys out the back. I did that because they didn't like people seeing them in this house. They were apparently very famous guys, and this house was admittedly a little run down.

"Man, why can't we ever find a decent place to live?"

"Because, Johnny, your definition of 'decent' changes every week."

"Well, Connor, at least I care."

"Guys, why can't we just stay calm and sort this out later? I like the place, and I don't know why we even sneak out the back anyway."

"Yeah, you two. Mike and I like the place. Mike's the leader, and Johnny is still making orders."

"Alex, keep quiet. You'll alert those weird girls."

"Sorry, Jake."

"C'mon, guys let's just go."

"What's going on? Jake, what are these guys doing here?"

"Um, well, you see...RUN!"

We probably should've seen this coming. Johnny was a rich person, so his complaints were 's shouts can be heard for miles.

We headed for Canterlot High, and those girls were following us. When we got to the school, the orange one growled and said, "This isn't over, you know." She turned to leave, and they went home.

Adagio's POV

He went to Canterlot High School? He could've just said that, and all of that running could've been avoided.

As we trudged home, Sonata asked why we couldn't go back.

"Are you crazy? We got kicked out of there. What makes you think they'll take us back just like that?"

"Instincts, Adagio. Instincts. I'm going back."

"As much as I hate to say it, Sonata's got a point. She might be wrong, but she sure does have a point."

And just like that, they backed away, leaving me walking home alone.

Sonata's POV

"Sonata, I'm not going to the school. I'll give that a few days first. But you did still have a point. I just didn't want to be near that grump."

"Huh. Sounds good. So where are you going?"

"I'm gonna do some shopping. These outfits won't last forever, you know."

"Oh yeah, right."

She walked off, and I walked back to the school. As I got closer, I noticed that people were staring at me in a weird way and sort of mumbling. When I got inside, people started to walk away with a weird smile on their faces. As I wondered why they did that, some blue girl with rainbow hair ran up to me and tackled me.

"You got a lot of nerve coming back here, you know."

"Rainbow Dash, cut that out."

"But Applejack, she—"

"Ah don't give a hoot. You just overreact every tahme you see someone y'all don't lahke."

"Uh, hi there, I'm Sonata. You remember me, right?"

"Yeah, you tried to control the school, got your butts whooped by us, and sang terribly at the end."

"Rainbow Dash, you're still overreacting."

"Well, I—"

"Rainbow, darling, would you shut up already? You're constant rudeness is trying my patience."

"Well, howzabout you try mine?"

"Jake? Is that you?"

Jake's POV

"Alright, what did she do?"

"She showed her face here, that's what."

"Rainbow Dash, we already told ya. Shut up already. It's annoyin'."

"Leave her alone, girls, she's with me."

They backed away from her, and I slowly approached her.

"Now don't worry about hothead over here. Ego girl is just really cranky."

"My name IS Rainbow Dash."

"I know. I just happen to be stating facts."

"Hey!"

"Calm down. I was


	4. Chapter 4: The Incident

**A/N: Sorry about the cutoff in the last chapter. I forgot I was still working on it when I had uploaded it. He was about to say "I know. I was just letting Sonata in on your personality." And then he—you know what? Let's just pick up from there. I don't have time to explain it.**

**Discord: I would've liked to know why you cut off.**

**Yterbius: No. F*** off. Go home. You practically threw me off in my last fanfic that you were in, and my story didn't go how I wanted at all.**

**Discord: And how is it my fault, Mike, that—**

**Yterbius: When writing fanfictions, my name is Yterbius. When starring in them or otherwise, my name is Mike. If you can manage that, I'll let you write a chapter for this fanfiction.**

**Discord: It's a deal, Eaterman.**

**Yterbius: This is going to be a long day...**

"Calm down. I was just letting Sonata in on your personality."

"INCOMING!"

I suddenly got hit by a speeding Alex. Upon further inspection, after clearing my head of course, I noticed a banana peel, and some yellowish-brown sludge on his shoe.

"Alex, you nincompoop." I saw Connor yelling at him.

"Woohoo, let's go again."

I lightly flicked him on the head. "Why can't you find a normal hobby like the rest of us?"

"Because normal hobbies are boring, like Connor."

I heard Connor scream from the hallway. "I heard that, you twit."

"Oh hi there. You look new. Who are you?"

Sonata replied in a bubbly tone. "We chased you from your own house, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry, I think that crash razzled my mind or something."

I replied in disgust. "You are just impossible to deal with. Why do we keep you around?"

"I'm not sure we have enough time for me to list the reasons."

"What happened here?"

Suddenly, Principal Celestial was walking over to the scene.

"Sorry, just slipped on this thingy." Alex revealed the banana peel, which was now kinda shaped differently. We all gagged.

"Well could you please dispose of it please? I don't want to ask you again."

"Sure thing, ma'am." He immediately walked over to a giant gray bin, and almost dropped the peel in, when suddenly, the trash can exploded, and he sent the peel flying.

It soared in the air, and landed on Sonata's face.

"Ew, get it away."

We looked over at Alex, who was now covered in soot all over his face.

"Anyone care to explain how that happened?"

Suddenly, some teal guy with yellow hair and thick muscles ran up to him.

"I can't believe you fell for that. I have been waiting for some loser like you to spring that trap."

His face quickly changed from joy to fear when he saw Celestia scowling.

"One more time, Mr. Edges, and I will call your parents."

"Sure thing, ma'am, you got it."

He walked away, and Alex finally threw away the banana peel, much to Celestia's relief.

"Stupid Rough Edges."

Mike spoke his usual line. "Alrighty, then. What's next?"

"Well, Mike, remember what I said about that song I wanted to perform alone?"

"Sure do, Jake, and I like the idea, as well as your confidence."

"Well, seeing as how I AM a country boy, it just seemed fitting, and tomorrow's the talent show, so I figured we could all perform one song, and then I'd do my thing."

"I like the sound of that, Jake."

"Thanks, Sonata."

"Hey, Jason, why are you talking to her?"

"First off, Rainbow Dash, it's Jake, and second, you're a grouch, and third, I can talk to her if I want to. I don't see any rules against talking to people. I'm talking to you right now, and there aren't any cops, are there?"

"But she's a—"

"I know, I talked to her personally. I. TALKED. To her. Personally."

"Rgh, you little sh—"

"Okay, let's tone down the language around here, shall we?"

"Yeah, Johnny, let's do that."

We all heard the morning bell.

"Uh oh. We gotta scatter."

"What's going on, Jake?"

"That morning bell means we only have five minutes to get ready for our first class."

"Don't worry. I'll let you off this one time."

"Really? Thanks, Principal Celestia."

"So Jake, what's your first class?"

**Discord: Yeah, Yterbius, what is his first class?**

**Yterbius: Finally. Addressed by the correct name at the correct time.**

**Discord: Oh, did I? How about that?**

**Yterbius: You know what that means, right?**

**Discord: I sure do.**

**Yterbius: Go on. The computer awaits.**

**Discord: Oh boy. This is going to be fun.**

**Yterbius: (suddenly realizes the problem) Uh oh.**


	5. Chapter 4a: Utter Chaos

Once upon a time in Equestria, there was a draconequus named Discord. Everypony loved him. He was worshipped by all. One day, they all decided to name an official holiday just for him. Soon, all of Equestria would bow in his presence and absolutely ad

**Discord: ...absolutely ado—hey, what are you doing? You'll spill my—crap.**

**Yterbius: Oops. Was that me?**

**Discord: Considering how you're the only other one here...**

**Yterbius: Well you're the one ruining the story.**

**Discord: You said I could write my own chapter.**

**Yterbius: I thought you wouldn't be too moronic to know it had to stay relevant to the fanfic, you bonehead.**

**Discord: Well you didn't have to spill my Mou—**

**Yterbius: Sh! Don't say it.**

**Discord: What? Mount—**

**Yterbius: Yes. Don't say it!**

**Discord: Why not?**

**Yterbius: Because it's copyright infringement and I could get sued. So I prefer Green Cola.**

**Discord: Well, whatever, you still spilled it all over your computer, therefore wrecking it. By the way, this was expensive.**

**Yterbius: That's okay. I usually upload my Fanfics via my mobile device. Besides, it was only $29.99. I can easily replace it twice. By the way readers, sorry for the delay. Bozo here got carried away with his imagination. Please hold and have a nice day.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Confrontation

Sonata's POV

As we ran through the halls, I asked why we were running, when Principal Celestia just gave us a freebie.

"I just don't like taking those kinds of chances, that's all."

We got to Jake's locker, and he opened it, only to get a pie in the face.

"Rgh, that's it. From now on, I pack everything in my backpack."

He opened it, and got a confetti blast to the face.

"That's it. I'm done. I can't take it anymore."

He left, and about ten minutes later, he grabbed all his things and stuffed them as best he could, and we walked to his first class.

"What happened?"

"Don't worry about it, Sonata. Let's just hope that things get better from here."

We got to his first class, and the sign said, "Ironworks" in blue letters.

"I'll just stay out here. Don't really have any classes I need to go, but I want to stay close to you."

"Sounds good. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Okay. By the way, what's 'Ironworks?'"

"It's just a pretty hard gym class."

He left, and I stood outside the doorway. After a few minutes or so, a few students walked up to me, and said some nasty things.

"Hey, look, it's that evil singing creature. Oh wait, never mind, it's just some tone-deaf loser."

After a few minutes of those, they started to flick me, and then it only got worse.

Jake's POV

I was just doing some bench-presses in class, when I heard a slight cry for help from Sonata.

"Coach Biceps, permission to use the restroom, sir."

"Permission granted, lieutenant."

I left the class, and immediately saw a few girls picking on Sonata. One of them was cream colored and had pink and blue hair. Another was mint green, with mint green and white hair. The third was Lightning Dust.

"Hey, leave Sonata alone!"

"Why, Jeff? She caused us to—"

"Bon Bon, I don't give a hawk's eye what harm she caused. I know she can change. Remember Sunset Shimmer? She was in the same position as Sonata. Tried to change, and you initially disease it that way. Neither did I. She stole my last cowboy hat and ripped it to shreds. I. Was. Miserable. However, Sonata here only hypnotized me, and for that I am not too shocked. I accepted her into my home, because she had nowhere else to go, and I'm the kind of person willing to accept people if they screwed up or not, like Sunset Shimmer."

"Sunset Shimmer was different—"

"No, Lyra, Sunset Shimmer was no different. Both she and Sonata screwed up, and they weren't initially accepted by the student body, because guess what? The student body is a bunch of judgemental jerks. Back in my old hometown, you would get severely punished for that kind of behavior. So don't go blaming her for any kind of mischief going on around here."

"Um, Jake, about that painting I wanted to buy..."

"What, Lightnin'? What is it all you judgemental jerks want with mah paintin's? If you want to bah anythin' from me, y'all gotta prove yerself werthy of bahyin' it." I only reverted to my country accent when I was really p***ed off.

"Okay then. Listen, Sonata, I'm sorry for the way my friends here have behaved."

"Nope, sorry. That ain't gunna cut it, pardner."

"Actually, Jake, she was trying to get these two away from me. She didn't do anything wrong. You're forgiven, Lightning Dust."

"Huh. How 'bout that. So anyway, about that painting..."

"How much is it going for, Jake?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking somewhere between $20 and $30."

"That cheap?"

"Well, bear in mind that I'm no professional artist yet, and most teens these days don't usually carry more than $50 to $100."

"How true. Alright, so when can I pick it up?"

"How's later today sound?"

"I think I can manage that."

"Great. See you later, and Bon Bon, Lyra, behave yourselves."

They left, and I turned back to Sonata.

"You doing all right, Sonny?"

"Yeah, I'm doing fine."

Later, after school let out, I met Lightning Dust, and we walked to my house, with Sonata following us.

"So, I got $25 on me. Is that enough?"

"Sure. Hey Sonata, you doing alright?"

She replied in a somewhat positive tone. "Yeah, Jake, doing just fine." It was amazing how she could go through a rough day and still end with a smile.

We got to my house, and I unlocked the door. As we stepped inside, I saw Aria holding some new outfits for her, Adagio, and Sonata.

"Hate to interrupt, but where did you get the money for that?"

"I found some under my pillow last night."

"Hmm...gaaaah." I facepalmed, and she responded.

"Who is she?"

"This is Lightning Dust, Adagio. I sold a painting to her and she's coming to pick it up. That's all."

I led her to my room, and searched my closets for the one I showed her last week. I finally found it on the third shelf from the bottom. I had painted her about to kick a soccer ball. I had painted action lines to make it more intense. It was practically a digital photograph.

"Here you are." I handed over the painting.

"Thanks, and here YOU are. By the way, are they always like that?" She handed me the money, and I nodded.

"Well, thanks. See ya later."

And she left.


	7. Chapter 6: The Other POV

Adagio's POV

Why can't things ever work out the way I wanted? I _tried_ to get these idiots to shape up, and they still screwed up in the end. I went to my room, pondering the thought. As I tried to open my door, however, I couldn't.

I tugged hard at the door, when I realized that I climbed out the window to sneak a glimpse at our unexpected guest and his friends. As I grumpily made my way to the window on the outside, I continued to ponder my previous thought.

I climbed in through the window, flopped on my bed, and decided that perhaps I was rather harsh on the two girls. I decided to apologize for my actions, and promise not to blame them for any more problems. Of course, I decided to wait until they came back. No way in Tartarus was I going back out there.

I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Seriously, it felt like hours before Aria finally came back. She appeared to be carrying clothes.

"Dare I ask?"

"These outfits won't last forever, you know. Besides, Jake won't even know about these."

"Where'd you even get money for all those, Aria?"

"I found some under my pillow. It was tied up with a note saying 'Emergency Only!'"

"Well, I guess it was an emergency. Hand me one of those outfits."

She handed me a vermilion tank top with a pair of orange brown jeans. There was also a red sweatshirt hoodie and yellow ankle socks. For her, a rose colored turtleneck with maroon shorts, a violet red zip up hoodie with magenta ankle socks. Sonata got an aquamarine blouse with dark blue sweats, indigo leather jacket, and seafoam green ankle socks.

I was admiring my outfits for a few minutes, then Jake walked through the front door with Sonata and some random girl. I don't know why, but I get the feeling you know the rest.


	8. Chapter 7: The Downfall

**A/N: American references are present in this chapter. Jake is an American. All the way. Please don't sue.**

Jake's POV

After Lightning Dust left, I decided to paint pictures of my three guests. I started with Sonata, because she seemed like the perfect starting point. I grabbed a canvas and got to work.

After about ten minutes, (I tend to be quick at this) I finished with Sonata. She was standing on a cloud, and she looked like she got a pile of tacos. I moved on to Aria, but then speak of the devil, and she doth appear.

"Hey Jake, we ran out and got you an outfit too. Wanna see it?"

I figured I should, since I got nothing better to do with my life. I walked out into the living room, and saw a yellow buttony shirt with red and blue plaid stripes, a pair of blue designer jeans, and a gambler style burnt amber cowboy hat, appearing fresh as a cake on the griddle.

"Wow, girls. I can't beli—wait, where'd you get the money?"

Aria replied nervously. "Uh, I promised the manager I'd work it off."

"Well, that's mighty kind of you. Tell me, why exactly _did_ you go through that trouble to get me a new outfit?"

Adagio spoke. "We figured it was the least we could do. You gave us some shelter to stay in, you did try to make us some breakfast this morning, and that run was actually kind of, how do I put it, not boring."

Sonata spoke next. "Plus, I think we may be staying here awhile, so we might as well try not to fight. Trust me, you don't wanna know what we've been through."

"Actually, I do. Remember, you let me in on it."

Adagio instantly shifted. "You told him?!"

"Hey, don't hurt her, like you have been doing for the past millennium or two."

"Why, you little—"

"Aria, don't get mad at me. I don't care if you three are evil creatures who tried to make people miserable. I don't care if you're upset that you can't sing anymore. You were in a rut, and I like helping those that're in a rut, regardless the circumstances."

They stood there, silent for about three minutes, until Sonata finally broke the silence. "Well, thanks for the help, Jake. We heard you're performing for the talent show tomorrow. Can we watch?"

"Sure you can. I'll try to get the school to let you girls watch."

~The next day~

I decided to get up early so that I could try again with the bacon and eggs. They came out great. Aria loved them. She said that the ponies of Equestria never ate meat, so this was all new. Adagio was indifferent. Sonata kinda poked at it. "Something wrong, Sonny?"

"I'm not really a meat person. It's okay, just..."

"Not exactly what you had in mind?"

"Yeah. But I'll eat it to keep up my strength."

"That's the spirit, Sonata. I gotta get my new outfit. It should go perfect with my performance. By the way, thanks again for getting it. I really do like it."

Later at school, the guys came up to me and said that there weren't enough slots for their performance, so they got switched over to help me with mine. I got on stage, and I saw my houseguests being shoved to the back.

"Hey hey, whoa whoa, what's going on over there?!"

Some yellow red haired jock said, "We're trying to get rid of these three nuisances."

"And your reason is...?"

"So you don't have to worry about them controlling your mind or whatever."

I stood there. I took my guitar off, placed it on the ground, walked away, flipped the crowd off, and only said two words before I was gone.

"Screw you."

Immediately I heard Principal Celestia's voice. "Jackson Mississippi Scratch, I demand an explanation!"

"Elizabeth Nicole Celestia, I demand equality!"

She stood there, blushing at the sound of her full name. "How dare you—"

"—decide that these three 'nuisances' are just as fit to watch a performance as much as anyone else here? Where I come from, there was a certain poem, and the last line was, '...with liberty and justice for all.' I have lived by that moral all my life. If I can't supply equality between all citizens of Canterlot, then who am I to bother entertaining you jack***es." I escalated into my special accent.

"On top of that, these girls are mah houseguests. They were down on their luck, and Ah helped them. Ah gave 'em a place to stay, good food to eat. For crahying out loud, thay even went to the trouble of bahyin' me this outfit. Ah could've just come here in shoddy overalls and a whahte undershirt with mah old cowboy hat. But thay went ahead and told th' manager thay'd work off whatever thay owed 'im, just to get me this fancy outfit.

"Lastly, Ah promised Ah would let 'em watch the whole show. If ah can't even keep a simple promise, Ah ain't werthy of doin' nothin' fer y'all. Ah'm outta here. Enjoy the show."

I walked off the stage, towards the exit, through the crowd, and I left.

I turned around at the last second, and shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Oh, and Ah'm reporting this to Superintendent Discord."

Immediately, I had Celestia at my fingertips. She hollered and begged me not to. Luna asked if I even knew where he lived.

"Lemme guess. 1734 Chaos Lane?"

Luna lost her intimidating scowl as she nodded.

"Perfect. Just a block from home."

_It's over, you two. Give it up._ Those were my first thoughts.


	9. Chapter 8: The Idea

I walked home with an evil smirk. I knew where Discord lived. I knew him ever since I moved into the house a block from his. We became great friends. He even became the superintendent at the high school a few years ago, when I started my freshman year. And for some reason, Celestia and Luna had something against me. Probably my accent when I'm outraged, but the point is, they were screwed now.

I decided to stop home for a snack first. I grabbed a milkshake and mixed in some fruits. I drank it up, and headed to Discord's house.

I knocked on his door, and waited. He answered. He had a habit of dressing like a mix up. A red tank top, tan trousers, red tie with assorted polka dots, and a yellow baseball cap was his outfit of choice. He was gray with a white beard. He just dyed it white because he felt like it.

"Why, hello there, Jackson. What brings you here?"

I grumbled a little. "Just another bad day. Can I come in?"

Discord nodded. "Of course. We can also talk about that bad day over some Orange Cola."

I stepped inside. His house, despite his chaotic personality, looked a bit like any other house on the street. He walked over to his fridge and got some Orange Cola. He poured it into some red plastic cups, and we sat on opposite sides of his pentagonal coffee table.

"So what happened? It couldn't be something at school, because, after all, who goes to school on Saturdays?"

I took a sip. Orange fizz. It was pretty good. "Well, today was the day of the talent show, and I got to perform first."

"Well that's great. What next?" He took a small gulp.

"I recently got some new houseguests. Ever heard of the Dazzlings?"

"Those girls are trouble. I take it you charmed them into reforming?"

"Correct. Unfortunately, the others at school were not so forgiving, like with Sunset Shimmer." I took a swig of my soda.

"I believe it. So what happened?" He took a sip.

"Well, I was about to perform, when I noticed them getting pushed towards the back. I called them out on it, and, hearing their response, I dropped my guitar, and walked off. I also used Elizabeth's full name when she 'supposedly decided' not to do anything about the situation. I also raised into my special accent." I took a big gulp of my Orange Cola and sighed.

Discord finished his soda and thought for a moment. "Serves her right. I normally don't care for people doing small things, like a small nudge to knock away some books, or a stiff leg to send a lunch tray flying. Things like discrimination really bug me, though. Even with those three, I won't have it." He finished thinking, and his face was curiously smiling. "I think we should hold a contest. Whoever can restrain from discriminating them the longest can be vice principal for the week."

"Huh. Sounds good. So who's gonna be principal?"

"Actually, I was going to give you that role, as well as make you the judge. Plus, I figured we could find positions for your other friends."

"Cool. So when does the contest start?"

"Monday. You can tell Celestia and Luna, or I can email them."

"How about we do both, just to be safe." I finished my soda, and asked, "You know I've been wondering for awhile now: how is it you became superintendent of the school?"

"It was actually quite easy. I was honest, had a good résumé, and they needed one before school started. Plus, living near the school was a big boost."

"That sounds good. Thanks for the talk. Your words are an inspiration to those around you."

We threw our cups away, and we bid each other adieu.


	10. Chapter 9: The Disappointment

When Monday rolled around, I told Celestia and Luna about the contest, and they said they got emailed. I went up to the microphone controlling the announcements.

"Hello there, citizens of Loserville. I'm only gonna say this once. Today, we're starting a week long contest. Whoever is nicest to the Dazzlings the longest and most sincerely gets to be the assistant-vice-substitute-student-replacement-stand in principal for the week after this one."

I left the microphone, right after added, "oh, and Yterbiums, Rainbooms, report to the front office please."

I turned off the microphone, unplugged it, and I left, leaving a befuddled look on both of Celestia and Luna's faces. The other guys arrived, and we had a chat.

"Yterbiums, you guys get to be my assistant principals for the next two weeks. Rainbooms, we need to talk about your behavior upon meeting with Sonata Dusk."

The guys were ecstatic, while the girls were p***ed.

"I have to say, I am most disappointed. I expected better from you. At the talent show, you did nothing to help me and the guys with my situation. Rainbow Dash, I honestly did not expect you to, so you get off with a warning. Fluttershy, I know for a fact that, given the circumstances, you normally would've been more than willing to help. And yet, you actually flipped the girls off. I'm shocked. Sure, you may be a shy wuss, but I can't believe you of all people, would do that. Still, you also have a warning. Rarity, I am flabbergasted that you muttered something under your breath. Would you mind sharing your thoughts?"

"I muttered that these girls were fugitives, and should be brought to justice."

"Detention." I handed her a slip of gray paper.

"Applejack, what I don't understand is why you were literally just standing there, doing nothing. May I ask why?"

"Ah was thinkin' of plans fer revenge."

"Detention for you as well." Another gray slip was given out.

"Pinkie Pie, I actually noticed you making threatening gestures towards them. All I can say is what the hell was that?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to give them the message that they messed with the wrong people."

I facepalmed. "Three detention slips in two minutes. That's a record. And I'm ashamed of you three."

Rainbow Dash volunteered to take a detention as well.

"Very well, Dashie, but I'm afraid I can't have you all in the same ones. You will have different detention periods. Rarity, you get detention tomorrow after school. Applejack, Wednesday after school. Pinkie, Thursday, after school. Rainbow Dash, since you volunteered, would you like Friday or Monday?"

"Friday. Got soccer practice on Mondays."

"Very well. Fluttershy, as for you, I would like if you just make sure you watch yourself next time. Are we clear, you five?"

They nodded in agreement. The girls left, and us guys were like a dog with its chew toy.

"Assistant Principals? Booyah!"

"Woohoo! In your face, suckers!"

They started to get carried away with their celebration, so I spoke up.

"Guys, guys, calm down, calm the f*** down, let's not lose our heads. Now, who wants to help me judge everyone's behavior towards the Dazzlings?"

They all stopped. They stared. From the looks of things, they weren't very pleased.

"Do we have to?"

"I could just kick you out of the 'assistant principal' deal."

Immediately, Johnny and Connor walked out.

"Well, that makes it easier. One guy for each member of the Dazzlings."

"I want Sonata." I heard one sentence, but there were two voices.

"Sorry, kiddos. Sonata's my deal."

"I get Aria. Mike gets their leader."

I sighed. "Don't you just love it when the pieces fall into their places?"

Mike replied. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna look for those girls." Mike left.

"Good, you go do that. We'll just hang here."

Mike's POV

I left the office to look for that orange one. I caught up with her group, and announced our plan. Sonata squealed, Aria grinned from ear to ear, and Adagio smirked. It was apparent that they were on board.

"Why do you automatically get to be assistant principal?" Adagio was doubtful.

"I was one of Principal Jake's close friends." I replied with a goofy grin.

"Principal Jake? He already got the office?" Aria asked with a smirk.

"Sure did. I'm afraid that you can't participate in our contest. I'm sure you know why."

"Yeah. We're the subjects of the contest." Adagio now had a small grin.


	11. Chapter 10: The Déjà Vu

Jake's POV

A week went by, and nobody bothered trying to participate in the contest, so for a week and a half, we were in charge with no real help from the student body. Even the ones that were nice to everyone gave the sirens cold shoulders. The Rainbooms were the only ones not in the office that actually supported them.

As time wore on, the we were kicked out of the office early, because Alex had gotten too close to the copy machine with his Blue Cola. It was wrecked, so the school had to replace it for about $499.99, so I could see why the newly restored principals were pretty p***ed. And that they literally threw us out of there. Seriously, they grabbed us by the backs of our shirt collars and heaved us out into the hallway.

Anyway, as we tried to get up, I felt a shoe on my leg, and whoever it was brought it down hard. I looked up, and Applejack's face was full of hatred.

"Ah hate you, Jake. Thanks to y'all, Ah ain't allowed to hang out with anyone fer the next week. Ah was hoping we could get to know each other better. But now, that plan's out the window. You ruined mah lahfe."

I grabbed my leg, and grimaced in pain. I tried to get up, and fell back to the ground. I decided to confront Applejack on my knees, and she didn't take it too well.

"Get up and fahght lahke a man, you wuss."

I lost it. I stood on my feet, ignoring the pain, and I threw my fist at her face. I felt her face as she fell to the ground. I knelt down and looked her in the eye, and I punched her stomach. She upchucked on my clothes, and I didn't care. She had deliberately stood there and let Rainbow Dash attack Sonata when she returned, injured me, and insulted me. And like they say in my hometown, three strikes and you're out. I stood up, only to fall right back down, landing right next to her.

"Applejack, this is all your fault." I leaned over and spat on her. "Oh, and by the way, this is exactly what led to Rainbow Dash starting a family." She recoiled, a look of horror spreading across her face.

"Are you sayin'..."

"Yes, I AM sayin'." I tried, in futility, to get up again.

Mike got up, believing it was safe. "I'll go grab the others." He ran off.

I looked at Applejack, giving her a mean look. She cowered. Even though I was usually a nice guy, it sorta felt good making her feel like crap.

"If I was still principal, I would give you a week's worth of detention." I slapped her face with the back of my hand. It felt good to release all that stress. "If you see the Rainbooms, tell them—"

"No need, they're rahght here. Y'all can tell them yerself." I looked over and saw the Yterbiums and Rainbooms. Johnny and Connor lifted me up, and I asked to wait a second. I turned towards the girls, and left my message.

"Sombra's escaped." The guys carried me away.

**A/N: And the plot thickeneth. Sound familiar?**


	12. Chapter 11: The Replay

Adagio's POV

Poor Applejack. She had no idea what was coming. Little did she know, she was right to suspect us of something. It was me who bailed Sombra out of prison. I had used the remains of my siren magic to convince the officer to release him.

Anyway, that was last week. I knew I wanted to get those blasted Rainbooms in the same position when I heard what happened to the rainbow girl. I sent Aria to gather information on them, and unsurprisingly, she started with rainbow girl. She told Aria what had happened, and that she had gotten pregnant after having a fight with her crush, who was now the stepfather, I guess, because Aria reported that Sombra had raped her. I decided to cause some trouble.

Applejack's POV

I was frightened. If Sombra was loose, that meant I was in trouble. I had a small fight with one of those guys, so that meant I could end up in Rainbow Dash's position. I decided to try to disguise myself. I wore a leather jacket with a pair of sequined jeans, and I decided to try an eastern accent in place of my western one. I styled my hair to look like a biker girl. And I temporarily changed my name to Dixie Motors.

I ran into the sirens on the way. They didn't recognize me, so I knew I was clear. However, they seemed curious as to where I came from, or who I was. And I got the feeling that they had something to do with Sombra's escape. When they looked my way, I put on a stern face. The blue one broke the silence.

"You know, you look kinda familiar. Do I know you?" She looked confused. I held my guard.

"Nope. Never seen you in my entire life. I'm new. Name's Dixie Motors." This eastern accent was kinda hard to hold. I held out my hand, and she went to shake it, but I pulled up at the last second.

"Slowpoke." I walked off in the direction I was already going. I never felt so horrible. I was usually so nice to most people before I got to know them. And even though I already knew them, I had treated them like newbie garbage. I started texting my friends to tell them I would start seeing them less because I feared Sombra would find me. Rarity, of course, responded first.

«But drling, y r u so insistnt on avoidng him? –Rarity»

«Bcuz, rarty, i dont want a kid ths erly. –AJ»

«Aww, I wuz hopng 2 thrw nuther baby shwer. –Pink Partie 4ever»

«But we needs base playr. –RDRulz»

«Oh well, if you must, then you must. –Fluttershy»

«Oh, &amp; nuther thng: i biker grl, hr name is Dixie Motors. –AJ»

I got more texts, but I ignored them. At one point, I got a call. I knew I couldn't ignore that, so I answered. I once again used a different accent.

"Who is it?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Appleja—er, I mean Dixie, we got a problem. Head to the practice room. No time to explain."

I rushed to the practice room, and when I opened the door, I found none other than Sombra. I found Adagio standing next to him with an evil grin. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and the others, as well as Aria and Adagio, were gagged and tied, and the windows were covered in paper and tape. Adagio let Sombra loose, and I fled for my life.

Sonata's POV

I had a hard time moving in the ropes and my gag, but I managed to communicate with Aria. The thing with us sirens is that we can telepathically communicate. I.e. we can speak with our minds. And the best part is we choose who hears us, so we could leave Adagio out of the picture. Unfortunately, we have to have our hands touching, and our hands were tied separately. But here's how our conversation went.

‹Aria, what do we do?›

‹‹I don't know.››

‹C'mon, you're the smart one. Think of something.›

‹‹Well, I—››

"Wow. Can you believe it? I could be the greatest evil mastermind, and you two could've been my minions." Adagio had interrupted our conversation. Well, if you can call it a conversation.

"Just think. We could've ruled all of Equestria. Me and you two. But you just had to go and get on their good side, didn't you?"

Aria talked back. "Ordinarily, I would be on your side, but what you sent Sombra to do is just overkill. You've gone too far." Just then, Alex walked in.

"Well, what's go—I'll go grab my knife."

He left, and try as she might, Adagio could not bring him back. I'll give him this, he has willpower. Normally, she had used other methods not involving her melodies to lull people into hypnotism. And what's worse, it would take mere seconds. This guy, however, was 100% undeterred. He didn't even flinch.

Minutes later, he returned with an open blade. I questioned why he had it.

"Won't you get in trouble? I mean, after all, it IS a legal weapon."

He smiled. "The district rules state that the blade can be no longer than 3 inches. And after the principal's inspection, this blade is only 2 inches and a quarter. So it's totally legal. As long as I don't physically harm a soul with it." And with that, he began cutting off my ropes. Until Adagio beat him with a metal bat. At that, he turned around, unharmed, and said the following:

"Huh. I think I felt a mosquito. Lemme check. Oh wait. That's no mosquito. It's a bad girl with a baseball bat. Funny. I usually can't feel things through this thick skull. Oh, and how about that. It's now completely bent at an angle. Man, what a shame. I was wondering if you would consider joining the baseball team. But how can you play with a broken bat? I'll show you!" All the while, Adagio was backing away in fear.

At that last sentence, he grabbed it out of her hand and held it above her head. She cowered in fear, as she awaited her impending doom. But to her surprise, he just went right back to freeing me. Once I was free, I went to untying Rainbow Dash, only to find that it was in a knot I was unfamiliar with.

"Surprised, Sonny?" Adagio looked over. She replaced her devil smile on her face. I decided to grab my own blade. Aria had never trusted me with blades, so this was my moment to prove my worth.

I instantly worked on the knot holding Rainbow Dash captive. As soon as she was free, she turned around and hugged me. She actually hugged me. Even though I only knew her for a few weeks, I knew she was no hugger. I guess this is what a child does to you.

Rainbow Dash's POV

I held her for a very long time. I was grateful I would see my child again. Even though I hated her at first, I now felt a strong emotion. I would call it love, but I had a boyfriend who would probably be jealous, so I'll call it elation.

I let go, thanked her for my release, and went towards Aria. I untied her knot with ease, and we ran towards other people. Once we untied the last knots, we were all free. I was glad at first, but then I remembered that Dixie was still out there. I let the others know, but Adagio blocked the door. She lashed out her hand, and a giant lock appeared on it. We ran to the window, and there was a brick wall instead of a field. We were trapped.


	13. Chapter 12: The Escape

Rainbow Dash's POV

I knelt in front of Adagio and begged her to let us go. I was sincerely in tears. I longed for my young Blitzy. He was somewhere else, and I could not reach him. Adagio looked at me, terror in her eyes.

"Sorry, kiddo, but the deed is not done yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait." I punched her in the gut as hard as I could. But to my demise, my fist hurt like I had punched a steel wall. She didn't even flinch.

"Not what you expected, eh Rainbow Dash?"

"YOU CRUEL DEMON!" Suddenly, Mike, Johnny, and Connor kicked down the door. Simultaneously. Johnny ran up to me.

"Please tell me you aren't hurt." I showed him the marks that I got from the ropes, and he went berserk. He instantly pummeled her, and everyone else, except me, fled the scene. I stayed behind and watched Johnny take out Adagio, hit by hit.

Johnny's POV

_Left, right, uppercut, front, stomp, invert, corkscrew, wide blow, superdrive._ Man, who would've thought those years in close combat training would pay off?

Those thoughts flooded my head as I took Adagio down. Why did she do this to my Raindash? She deserved better than this. It was unfair of me to not be there by her side while she got taken down. I endlessly pummeled the demon. When I thought she was finished, I gave her one last knuckle to her forehead, and she was out cold.

I grabbed Rainbow Dash and tried to flee from the scene, but the doors were barricaded again. I texted Jake the situation, and seconds later, the door flew off its hinges. Standing there was Jake. I ran after him, and the door reappeared on its hinges behind us. _Sayonara, suckers,_ I thought.

We all ran to Jake's house, which, conveniently, was where the sirens were staying. We looked through the front door, and the place was wrecked. Jake didn't look too hazed. He simply snapped his fingers, and everything was cleaned up. We looked at him in shock.

"Oh sorry. I've been trying to hide it, but I guess the cat's out of the bag. See, I'm not from this dimension. Which means I can use magic. I'm from a dimension I like to call Earth. Specifically, West Virginia. Man, I miss that place. Mind if I sing a quick tune?" He walked over and grabbed his acoustic guitar, and he played his song. We nodded.

["Take Me Home, Country Road" by John Denver]

Jake's POV

As I played that song, I looked back on my past. I had some good times, and some not so good times, but I missed them all. I missed my old friends, my family, but most of all, I missed my homeland. I got here when some guy in the chemistry lab at my old school mixed something he shouldn't have. He created a portal, and I, being unfortunate, got too close. And now here I am, covered in blue skin, living with three incompetent morons, a know it all blabbermouth, and now a duo of girls who have loads of bad karma.

I finished my song, and I wept. I left the room, headed towards mine, and locked the door behind me. Ten minutes later, I got a knock on my door, and Alex told me it was dinnertime. I was a little hungry, so I didn't argue.

I walked into the kitchen, and what I saw will lift my spirits forever. Chicken fried steak. With green bean casserole. And mounds of mixed berry ice cream. With two gallons of non alcoholic apple cider. This was my favorite meal as a kid. How did these guys know? I had never told them. Connor spoke.

"We're also from Earth. I resided in Cambridge, England, and I can read minds."

Mike followed. "Edinburgh, Scotland. I can see for miles."

Alex continued. "British Columbia, Canada. Unfathomable strength."

Johnny finished. "San Francisco, California, USA. Super speed."

I looked at the guys in amazement. I was glad to finally know I wasn't alone. Me, Alex, and Johnny from North America, and Mike and Connor from Europe. Things were turning out pretty good.

We ate as much as we could, and we had little to no leftovers, but sadly, the ice cream was untouched. I was far beyond satisfied.

"Man, that was good. So who made this?" I figured it was Johnny, even though it was kind of biased.

"We all did. Mike made the green bean casserole, Johnny made the chicken fried steak, Alex bought the apple cider, and I handmade the ice cream. Why, you like it? Don't answer. I know you do."

I shrugged. "Well, thanks anyway. I feel a lot better. Who wants to hear that one song I would've played at the talent show?"

Mike responded. "Actually, most of the performances were out, so they rescheduled for three days from now. You can do it there."

I hesitated. "I don't know, what about these quiet girls over here? What's gonna happen to them?"

Aria spoke. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Sonata spoke. "Relax, Jackson, don't worry about us."

I blushed at the use of my real name. I liked "Jake" better, but I guess I could live with Jackson.

"Man, I still can't believe your name is Jackson Mississippi." Alex looked at me with confusion.

I responded, saying that when life gives you lemons take them. Free stuff is awesome. They broke into laughter, and I felt real great.


	14. Chapter 13: The Scones

**A/N: If it seems like I'm not featuring the sirens enough, I sincerely apologize for my actions. I just get ideas that only involve the sirens. I have recently tried to reinclude the sirens.**

**Rarity: Hello there, darling.**

**Yterbius: Just what I needed. Another visitor. Just once, I would like to write to write a fanfiction without getting any unexpected visitors.**

**Rarity: I beg your pardon?! I **_**was**_** going to return the power cord I borrowed, but I think I'll keep it a little longer. Good day to you, ruffian.**

**Yterbius: God damn it.**

**Discord: Guess who?**

**Yterbius: *sigh* That's it. I quit. I give up. I'm going back to Scotland. I will find a way.**

Sonata's POV

After the great meal the guys cooked,we were exhausted. It was a long day, and Applejack had gone missing. We would set to look for her tomorrow, but tonight, we were going to get some shuteye. However, I didn't feel like sleeping with Aria.

I got out of bed, grapes my blanket and pillow, and I walked down to the basement. I found myself in front of Alex's room. I knocked on the door, and three seconds later, a frazzled Alex opened up.

"What can I do you for?"

"I was wondering if I could sleep with you tonight."

"What for? Just curious."

"Aria's a great gal, but I feel kind of, I don't know, individualized."

He was hesitant. "I've been feeling kinda lonely myself. Ever since we gave Adagio the boot, Connor has been sleeping in her old room. I'm not gay, but I don't feel comfortable on my own."

"So I can sleep with you? I mean, not _that_ way."

"Oh, definitely not _that_ way. But yeah, I'd appreciate some company. Come in."

I flipped on the light, and I found two different mattresses. One had a white sheet covered in red colored maple leaves. The other was completely empty. I walked towards the second one, and dragged my assortments with me.

"Good night, Alex."

"See you in the morning, Sonata."

He walked over to the light switch, shut it off, and tripped on something, but eventually, he got back in bed.

Alex's POV

I woke up with a fresh morning jumpstart. I got out of bed, woke up Sonata, who was almost as jubilant as I, and we went upstairs for breakfast. It was Connor's turn to make breakfast, and he was making his famous homemade blueberry scones. As much as we loved them, he could only find enough resources to make them about once a month, I counted, so we made the most of it.

As he finished his third batch, I grabbed on from the counter, thankful it was a cooler one, and bit into it. Once again, Connor outdid himself. Slightly chewy on the outside,like a muffin, but so soft and delectable on the inside. These blueberries had to be hand picked. The dough, so rich, tasty, and—wait, where am I going with this?

Anyway, the scones were wonderful, and Connor kept them coming. I grabbed a few for me, and a few for Sonata.

"Sonata, you absolutely have to try Connor's scones. They are magnificent."

She nibbled, and then almost swallowed it whole.

"Geez, slow down. I know they're good, but you have to savor them. Let a bite dance on your tongue, and lose yourself to the flavor."

She tried that with another scone. She constantly changed faces, but don't worry, they were all positive.

After breakfast, we got dressed. I made sure not to look at Sonata when she did, but she put on an aquamarine blouse with dark blue sweats, an indigo leather jacket, and one of my blue beanies, although it was surprising she could fit all her hair into it.

We set out to find Applejack, and about half an hour after we left the house, Johnny pointed to an alleyway. We walked towards it, and sure enough, Applejack lay there, kinda curled up. She had cuts and bruises all over her body.

Jake went up to comfort her, but she pushed him away, calling him bad luck. It was true. Over the last few months, we brought in Jake, failed to meet a deadline, spent more money on laundry, and even had him nearly burn down the house with his eggs and toast, right around the time those three girls entered our lives.

I went up to comfort her, and she didn't shove me away.

"Listen, Applejack. Jake may be a bearer of bad mojo, but he's not bad news. Besides, didn't this already happen before?"

She curled up into more of a ball. I stroked her head, and she loosened up a bit.

"Do you even know if you're pregnant yet?"

She shook her head. "I haven't checked yet."

"Well don't worry, we'll have Jake—"

"No! Not Jake. He's just bad luck. Keep him away."

"Listen, you fought with him, he's your responsibility. I'm not, Mike's not, Connor's not, and Johnny's obviously not. You're stuck with Jake, like it or not."

She got up, and walked over to him. She slapped him in the face.

"That's for the detention."

"Wha—are we still on _that_?"

They fought, but eventually, they made up. We walked to a convenience store, and Jake bought Applejack a pregnancy test. She went into the stall to use it, and a moment later, she came back with a horrified expression.

"Positive. I'm gonna have a baby."

Jake replied. "Well, s***. Do we keep it, give it up, or abort it altogether?"

"We keep it, Jake. Just cause I didn't want it earlier don't mean I don't want it now." I smiled.

"Well, congrats to both of you. How will you tell your family, Applejack?"

"I ain't. At least, not till it shows." She glanced away from Jake, who gave her a comforting nudge.

"Hey, don't worry. It'll be great. I'll learn a little responsibility, and you'll learn to not see me as bad luck."

I glared at Connor, surprised. "Wait, you really mean it, Jake?"

He looked at me, looked into my soul, and said the one thing I expected him to say.

"Nope. I'm already responsible enough."

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

"Dude, how often do you clean up after YOU make breakfast?"

I slouched in defeat. "Point taken."

**Discord: Couldn't find a way, could you?**

**Yterbius: Nope. I'm trapped here. Wait, what did you do on my computer?**

**Discord: I typed a reasonable chapter for your fanfiction, Yterbius.**

**Yterbius: Hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Wow, I like it Discord.**

**Discord: You mean it?**

**Yterbius: Of course. It even fits perfectly with my plotline. You're a natural.**

**Discord: Thanks. It took me about an hour to write.**

**Yterbius: Well, I like it. I'm keeping it up.**


	15. Chapter 14: The Performance

Applejack's POV

I had a hard time trying to do my usual chores, because I kept throwing up every fifteen minutes. And when my family found out, they kicked me out. I tried telling them they needed someone to pick the apples, but they said Apple Bloom was old enough. So I grabbed my belongings, and I headed to Jake's house. Although I probably should've waited until morning to leave.

I found his house, and I knocked on his door. He answered, and looked unpleasant.

"Parents kick you out?"

I nodded. He smiled.

"My space is always available. Come on in." He behind the door, holding it open. I stepped inside, taking in the warmth. For a country person, he had a lot of stuff. It looked like a normal house on the inside.

I hugged him tightly. "Thanks, Jake."

He hugged me back. "Anytime, Applejack. Anytime." He kissed my forehead. I crawled in his bed, and he slept on the carpet.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?"

"Don't worry. You're the guest, you're in a troubling position, and besides, I like the carpet better."

"Okay, if you say so." I fell asleep after that.

Jake's POV

I woke up on the carpet of my bedroom. Funny thing, I often found myself there. I just liked it better than a mattress with springs or a wooden or concrete floor. Heck, even things like memory foam failed to comfort me.

I checked my bed, and Applejack's presence was elsewhere. I then heard someone barfing their guts out. I remembered when this happened with Rainbow Dash. Like now, I was disgusted, but I could do nothing to prevent it. I shoved the thought out of my head. I focused on performances for tomorrow. I decided, and confirmed I would do a bunch of country tunes. A little bit of this and some of that.

I went to comfort Applejack as I told her the news. She congratulated me, and ran out to throw up again. I giggled. In almost a year, I would be in the same position as Johnny. He lived with Rainbow Dash, but monthly he stay with us for up to a week at a time. Today, he left our home to go back to her. I wondered if Applejack would stay with us.

I pondered the thought, and Alex called out to us, saying breakfast was biscuits 'n' gravy. In case you don't know, it's fridge biscuits baked according to directions, and then Alex makes sausage. With leftover grease, he makes white thick gravy and blends it with the sausage. It's good.

We all grabbed a plate, and I got out the apple juice. Mike got out the cups, and we sat down at the table to eat. Applejack was apparently unfamiliar with biscuits and gravy. I asked her why, and she explained that her family always ate apples for their meals. Apple pie or cobbler for breakfast. Apple slices with a sandwich for lunch. Mashed apples with something else for dinner. She didn't know how to eat this non apple meal.

I showed her how, and she dug right in. As it turns out, she loved it. She asked for seconds, and Alex happily obliged. But when she went for thirds, Alex stated that he ran out. I finished, washed and rinsed my plate, downed my apple juice, and went back to my room. I pulled out my guitar and practiced my tunes.

Applejack walked in, and I set my guitar aside.

"Whatcha doing, Jake?"

"Just practicing for the show tomorrow."

"Oh, that's cool. Listen, I was wondering."

"Yeah? What about?"

"What will we name the baby? I know it's early, but I just don't want to go unprepared. Could you help me think of some names?"

"Sure."

She sat herself right next to me, and we got deep in thought. About half an hour later, we decided the names. If it was a boy, Douglas Krueger. If it was girl, Jenny Allison. She thanked me, left, and I wrote down the names on a piece of paper.

After that I got back to practice.

~The next day~

I stood on the stage, looking down at the crowd. I saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Sonata, and Aria. Everyone was pumped up and ready for my performance. Principal Celestia grabbed a microphone and made her announcement.

"Calm down, everyone. Calm—whoever is writing on that wall, you now have a detention. Anyway, welcome everyone, to the redo of the talent show. Before we begin, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, the other acts have all been canceled, due to illnesses, family emergencies, personal vacations, etcetera. The good—quit whining. The good news is, however, Jake has decided to perform extra tunes with his friends."

It was true. The principal asked me to do more tunes because the magic student, who was actually decent, got the stomach flu. The brothers who were to perform a small skit left for Mexico (or at least this world's version) because their grandmother was dying. Poor guys. Snips and Snails were dragged out to Manhattan. And lastly, the chainsaw juggler broke his arm trying to lift weights.

My buddies and I got on stage, and we played some country tunes, punk rock, and some alternative.

["Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson]

["Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by John Denver]

["American Idiot" by Green Day]

["My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'em Up)" by Fall Out Boy]

["Odds Are" by Barenaked Ladies]

["It's All Been Done" by Barenaked Ladies]

After that, we realized we had only played enough tunes for half the time given, so we packed up our things, got out electronic equipment, and played some very different tunes.

["Ghost" by Mystery Skulls]

["On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz]

["Alarm (feat. Black Gryph0n)" by Baasik]

["Set in Stone" by Black Gryph0n]

["Stronger" by Kanye West]

["When Can I See You Again" by Owl City]

During the show, I couldn't help but notice that a couple of the other students were getting to know the sirens better. In fact, I noticed that a couple of guys took turns dancing with them. I felt great that they were finally being accepted. Sure, it took awhile, but they finally came around.

I didn't care that I was likely to be congratulated for my performance. I didn't care that I was practically having the time of my life. I only cared about two things: the sirens finally getting their overdue respect, and my future as a father.

As I finished my performance, the crowd went ballistic. When the crowd died down a bit, Celestia grabbed the microphone.

"Give it up for Jackson Mississippi Scratch!" They went ballistic again.

Oh, by the way, in case I forgot to mention earlier, Vinyl Scratch was my sister. Her parents took me on when I arrived in this world.


	16. Chapter 15: The Helping

Vinyl Scratch's POV

I normally wouldn't cheer for the kind of music I had just heard, but for one thing, he is my brother, and two, and I don't say this because he's my brother, but he is awesome. While I usually prefer things like dubstep and electronica, Jake made me realize all those years ago that things like country, punk rock, and pop aren't terrible either.

I went home, and I realized I was being followed. I looked behind me, and Jake was a foot or two away.

"So what did you think, sis?"

"Well, little bro, I think it was okay."

"Okay? You seriously thought it was just...okay?"

"Fine. It was awesome."

"Are you sure about that?"

I gave him a friendly nudge. He pulled me into a headlock a gave me noogies.

"Ha, stop it, haha, that, haha, hurts. Please, haha, make, hee hee, it, hah, stop!"

"Not until you say it."

"Say what?"

"You know very darn well."

"Fine, haha. I really, haha haha, loved, haha, the show."

He kept going. "Oh come on. Haha, that, haha, wasn't it, haha, Jake?"

"Fine." He finally let go of me.

"Man, that hurt. So why are you following me, li'l bro? Don't you have your own home?"

He stared for a few seconds. Then he spoke.

"Yeah, I do. But I'm just going through a lot."

"Like what, Jake?"

"Well, you remember the Dazzlings, don't you?"

I pulled off my shades, looking him in the eye.

"How could I forget? It's a good thing I was wearing these babies." I pulled off my bulky headphones. "Otherwise, pretty much all of Canterlot High would be screwed. "What about them?"

"They're staying at my place."

"What?! Please tell me you're okay." I immediately tried to feel his forehead, but he shoved my hand away.

"Relax, I'm fine. They've changed for the better. Well, two of them, at least. Their leader, who made my predicaments worse, is no longer with me."

I grinned. At least he had the good ones living with him.

"What happened with that orange one?"

"Well, she released Sombra back into the web of mayhem."

I glared in shock. "But I thought he had to serve at least twenty years."

"Somehow, she bailed him out, and now he got Applejack pregnant. She got kicked out of her own home, and she's also staying with me."

I nearly passed out. Pregnant? That lowlife scum.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"Because it all happened yesterday."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I was hoping I could stay at your place for the night."

I figured I should let him. He was my brother after all.

"Just one thing, Jake: Octavia's also gonna be at my place."

"Okay. That's cool."

So we walked a long way until we got to my home. 725 Cadence Lane. I opened the door, and we walked in.

Jake's POV

I went inside, and I gazed around. There were vinyl records galore. I had a hard time believing she could collect this many in just a few years.

"How did you—"

"Yard sales, working at the local music store, made a few myself, bought online, rummaged our parents' attic, you know, same old, same old."

"Vinyl, could you come here a second?" I heard a voice with a fairly average British accent from the end of the hallway.

"Be right there! Wanna come, Jake?"

"Sure. Why not?" I followed my sis into a room with a grey door, and that's when I got a big surprise.

I entered the room, and saw a grey girl with raven hair.

"Hi, Vinyl. Who's your friend?"

"Hey, Octavia. This is my little brother, Jake."

"Nice to meet you, Octavia." I stuck out my hand, and she shook it.

"So _that's_ what you look like. I must say, I find it quite dashing."

"You're good looking yourself. Whatcha doing here?"

"Not much. Just paying a visit. Vinyl, could you help me out real quick?"

"Sure. What's up?"

Octavia handed Vinyl a piece of paper.

"Question fifteen."

Vinyl Scratch read it aloud.

"Name at least three musical tunes of the 90s. Hmm, I'm kinda stumped myself."

"Ever hear of _Counting Blackbirds_?" I blurted out suddenly, remembering something I heard around the time I got here.

Vinyl sighed. "Always forgot their name. Which song?"

"Let's go with 'Mr. Johnson'."

Octavia took back the paper and wrote it down. "How about we listen to these tunes once I'm done here."

"Sounds good, Octy. Know any others, little bro?"

I scratched my chin in thought. "How about _Erminerm_? 'The Not So Real Shady Slumber'?"

Once again, Octavia wrote words on her paper.

"And lastly, _Green Night_'s "When I Come to Town."

Octavia scribbled out words, and set her paper aside. "Done! Now, let's listen to them."

I set up the computer I found in the back, and once that was done, we sat back and listened.

["Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows]

["The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem]

["When I Come Around" by Green Day]

Once that was done, I followed my sister into her room. I walked over to her spare blanket and pillow piles. As I grabbed an electric blue blanket with blue stripes and a white pillow with reversed eighth notes, I asked Vinyl why she had chosen to be a lesbian.

"I never really liked guys. Disgusting, lazy, stupid..."

"Well, I resent that greatly."

"Do you deny it?"

"No, but I resent that greatly."

"Well, I just have standards, despite popular belief."

"Whatever, Scratchy."

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to never use that nickname?"

"Well, too late now."

"Ugh, you little..." She grabbed her pillow and threw it at me. I caught it, and threw it back.

"Wow. You throw like a girl."

"Well, Scratchy, you're one to talk."

After that, "Scratchy" and I basically just threw pillows back and forth for about five minutes. Then we gave up, bid each other sweet dreams, and hit the sack.


	17. Chapter 16: The Self Doubt

Jake's Dream

I was back at my home in Huntington, West Virginia. Specifically, my grade school building, "Dawson Academy." I was in the chemistry lab, doing sciencey stuff. My lab partner, Kennedy Harvard, was doing who knows what with the chemicals next to me.

As I attempted to try combining the materials correctly, which isn't easy, Kenny mixed a few of the green ones with a red one. The thing exploded, and a cloud of smoke formed around me. As I tried to escape, the smoke holds me back, and soon, it gets up to my face. I heard several kids screaming as the world turned white.

Suddenly, I started falling. As I fell, I looked at my skin and notice it starting to turn blue. The whiteness around me disappeared, and I was in a weird place. Suddenly, some young girl with white skin, electric blue striped hair, and pink sunglasses came up to me. I find myself waking up as she fades away in swirls.

Jake's POV (awake)

I bolted awake, feeling pain in my head. I looked in front of me, and there was one of the legs on the bed.

Suddenly, I felt a body fall on me, and that was the end of that. If I had been asleep, I probably would've bolted awake with a scream. Instead, I tried hard to keep silent.

I was glad I did, for Vinyl rolled off of me, and I got up. I grabbed her, and laid her back on the bed. I then left the house, temporarily of course, and went for a walk.

As I walked, I pondered my mind for something to think about. I settled on my recent dream. This may not come as a shock, but the dream I had was no dream, but a memory. A genuine, bona fide, honest to god memory.

I liked my new life in this world, but I gravely missed my old life. I missed being a normal human with skin tanned from the heat of the sun during a hard day's work. I missed being able to have fun playing the guitar, chewing on wheat, and wearing plaid all day long.

But most of all, I missed being with my family. My mother, who had no reason to slack off, and got the necessary work done. My father, who was honest as the sun was hot and bright. I never had brothers or sisters, nor uncles or aunts. My parents were only children, my grandparents were only children, I guess it just ran in the family. But that was gonna change. Applejack I knew had a younger sister and an older brother.

I let my mind wander for a few more minutes before I made a full revolution around the block, and I went back through the door to my adoptive sister's house.

She had woken up, and sat on the couch in front of the door. She looked rather tired.

"Couldn't sleep, eh?"

I sighed, shook my head, and replied. "I'm just going through a lot at the moment."

She gave me a sympathetic glare. "I feel your pain, dude."

I hung my head. "Stress really gets to you, ya know?"

"Exactly, am I right?"

"We better get back to bed, sis. Got a big day ahead."

"Sounds good."

We headed back to the room we slept in, and she snagged the bed again.

I grabbed my special spot, and drifted off into my slumber. You know, having an adoptive sister isn't so bad.


	18. Chapter 17: The Breakfast Chapter

Jake's POV

I woke up, in the morning, without leaving in the middle of the night, in my makeshift bed. I leaned forward and got up. I found the bed next to me empty. I then heard the sink running in the adjoining bathroom. I sighed in relief.

As I got up, I went to the kitchen and decided to make some breakfast. I looked in the fridge and found a pound and a half of sausage along with half a dozen eggs. Almost fifteen minutes later, I had eggs over easy and fried sausage. I knew this wasn't my sister's favorite breakfast, bagels and cream cheese, but I always had an impulse to do some cooking. Plus, knowing my sister, they were probably close to expiration anyway.

She entered the kitchen, and when saw the meal I made for me and her, she looked rather pleased. She grabbed a plate and helped herself. I closely followed, and we sat down at the table in the connecting dining room, discussing our plans for the day.

I started. "So whatcha gonna do today, sis?"

"I thought I might stop by Octy's house, give her a visit. You?"

"Thought I might head back to my place, get back to Applejack. By the way, thanks again for letting me crash here. Really appreciate it."

"Anytime, little bro. Need anything, lemme know."

"Great, because I need about $100."

"Yeah, nice try."

"Eh, it was worth a shot."

We finished breakfast, placed our plates in the sink, stepped out the front door, and went our separate ways. Minutes later, I was back at the place with my friends and my pregnant girlfriend. I stepped inside, and I got a banana cream pie to the face, as well as, "It was Alex's idea."

"Great. Thanks for making me feel welcome, Alex. This'll go great with my sausage and eggs." I licked the pie off my face.

"Say, that reminds me, where were you last night? The guys and I were kinda worried."

"I crashed at my sister's place, Mike. Where's Applejack?"

"Still asleep, Jake. Having a kid on the inside does a lot to a girl, apparently."

"What happened, Connor?"

"Firstly, she ran to the toilet, but when I followed her, there was vomit in front of the door. Secondly, she got violently mad at me for drawing a mustache on the mirror. Lastly, she-

"Alright, I get it. She's gotten hormonal. Big deal. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sonata's POV

I woke up to the sound of yelling about a mustache on the mirror or something. I went to investigate, and Applejack was screaming at the top of her lungs, and Connor just stared at her wide eyed. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she gave me a hard stare. At that point, I just slapped her across the face. She immediately got all puppy eyed and weird towards Connor, and knowing my job was done, I decided to go for a walk around the block.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill Mike had given me. I decided to get some breakfast at Sugarcube Corner.

As I stepped through the doors, I got hard stares from all around. Fortunately, Pinkie appeared behind the counteer and called me over, because otherwise, I would've jusr walked out in fear.

"Hello Sonata. How are you doing today?"

"Doing fine. What are you doing behind the counter?"

"I work here."

"Wow, Pinkie. That must be very convenient for you."

"That, and I rent hospitality with Mr. and Mrs. Cake."

"That seems pretty nifty. Anyway, can I get a blueberry bagel with some strawberry cream cheese, and a vanilla frappé?"

"Sure thing. That'll be $4.99."

I gave her my twenty, and she rang it up, returning $14.61 to me. She later returned my exact order. I looked around for a table, and I saw Johnny sitting in the corner with Rainbow Dash an their young son, Blitz.

"Hey guys. Mind if I sit here?"

They accepted me very quickly, and I sat across from them. Rainbow Dash was eating her breakfast of a bran muffin and a small latté. Johnny was holding Blitz while trying to grab his half eaten donut. They looked good together. All three of them.

"So how've you been, Sonny? Do anything interesting?" I giggled at the use of my nickname. I realized only the guys used it.

"Nothing really. Just found out that Applejack is going to be a mother, and Jake is struggling to cope with the situation."

"Hoo boy. Now she'll know what I went through. Hope Jake's got a good job."

"That's right. Turns out, being a parent really upsets your financial balance. Plus, sometimes, you have to be flexible with your schedule. The kid never wants you to leave his or her presence."

I listened very deeply. Then as if he read my mind, he spoke again.

"Oh, don't worry, it's all worth it. And I already told Jake, so that would be why he's having breakdowns. Again, don't worry about it."

I finished my breakfast, and threw away my garbage. I returned to the table, and Rainbow offered her child for me to hold. I grabbed Blitz, and cradled him in my arms. He looked at me with a big grin on his face, and I felt something inside of me just melt. All my life, I knew nothing but terror and chaos, and I had no idea that this baby would make me rethink my past.

I handed Blitz back to Rainbow Dash, and I left, thanking her for the chat. As I walked home, I thought about my past as a siren. I had always caused anger and utter chaos. I would use my voice to stir up trouble, and then I fed off this negativity, becoming able to cause more anger, but at the same time, I felt stiffness, and occasionally, hollow, on the inside. I decided to push these thought to the back of my head as I planned out my day.


	19. Chapter 18: The Double Shock

Applejack's POV

Having this living creature in my belly made me feel like crap. There was the throwing up, the weird cravings, the extreme mood swings, oh the torture. And the guys fared no better.

They would get a scolding, lecture, or a good talking to, and they took it in stride. I hated Sombra so much, I hated Adagio so much, I hated the way things were.

Eventually, things calmed down a lot. I got less mood swings, weirder cravings, the throwing up ceased altogether, and Jake and I were able to find him a suitable job. As an assistant at the farm. It took a lot of convincing, but Granny eventually allowed him to work there, and I was accepted back into the family. In fact, a lot had changed in the few months I was gone.

Big Macintosh had confessed his feelings for the school librarian, Ms. Cheerilee, and she had returned the favor. Apple Bloom had found herself a new boyfriend who called himself Pipsqueak. And Granny had gotten her hip replaced so she could walk easier.

A few weeks later, I was going into labor. _But that can't be possible. I'm not due for at least three more months._ I thought as Jake dropped his apple basket and focused all his attention on me. Pretty soon, I was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors did everything they could to delay the process. They succeeded, but they requested that I be kept for the time being.

"What?!"

"Mr. Jake, we need to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"But that ain't fair, uh, Dr. Caballeron. Wow, that is long."

"Mr—"

"Okay, enough with the 'Mr.' business."

"Jake, her going into labor this early is not a good sign. If this happens again, she might not make it."

Jake's POV

I immediately stepped back upon hearing that. Not make it? I didn't understand. This was becoming too much to bear. Firmly, I nodded.

"Very well. If this is how it's supposed to be. On one condition."

"Yes?"

"May I please visit her at any possible time? And may I please know when she can be released?"

"She should be let out in a few days, and yes, you may visit."

I let out a sigh of relief. At least I could comfort her. But knowing I would have to spend lots of time on the farm and in school, it would not be an easy task.

A few days later, I found myself struggling to keep my finances in balance. There was supporting my child, keeping myself healthy, keeping Applejack healthy, as well as keeping the bills paid. As soon as I heard of an opportunity to earn money, I jumped at it.

So far, the only opportunities were extra jobs, money grants, and begging my pals for some coinage, but I kept telling myself that hope springs eternal. However, when I went to visit Applejack again, she looked rather upset.

"Is something wrong, Applejack?"

"I just came back from the doctor's office."

"And?"

"I'm afraid the baby died."

I nearly passed out. "Died?"

"The doctor examined me thoroughly, and he diagnosed a miscarriage."

"I don't get it. You were so healthy. How could this be?" I was frantic.

Adagio's POV

I was practically dying from laughter. Good thing I was avoiding them, or I might be persecuted. I had just used my magic to kill that baby before it was born, and I felt great. I loved causing terror and chaos. It just felt good.

I decided to cause more chaos, because there's no such thing as too much fun, right?

However, as I was trying to conjure up another spell, someone barged into the broom closet I was in. I flipped on the light switch, and I saw Aria. She stepped inside and gave me a good blow to the shoulder.

"What the hell, Aria?"

"You!"

"What, what did I do? Please don't hurt me again."

"This is all your fault. You set 'him' free, had him impregnate Applejack, and now you went and killed the kid. They didn't even know its gender. You're nothing but a monster."

I stared at her. She was right. I had killed someone. But hey, I like being evil. What can I say? I smirked.

"So? It's just my nature. I'm a siren, it's what I do."

She stared at me like I was double headed. Then she whistled, and Sonata, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash appeared next to her. Things looked bad.

**A/N: If I haven't apologized before, I will now. I'm sorry if it seems like I neglected the Dazzlings in their own story. I just kept getting non siren ideas, and I didn't think to write a separate fanfiction. My deepest apologies, and I will try to include the Dazzlings more. If you made it this far and realized it before then, you deserve a virtual brohoof. So here's one. /) Please don't hate.**


	20. Chapter 19: The Curse

Alex's POV

Once again, another wonderful day at Canterlot High School. Lessons were boring, food was awful, locker was jammed, trash can was rigged again, and my dude and dudette buds were walking with each other and I on our way to our homes. Applejack's baby died, sadly, so she had it removed, and things were back to normal.

Except, we weren't. We were walking home one particular day, and we saw the orange freako dudette waving her hands at us dudes' home. All of us ran to investigate, and her eyes were glowing red.

"Quam domum aliquamdiu est maledictus in perpetuum." The house began to glow bright yellow orange.

I ran up to her and got a good shot to her jaw. She stopped her spell, dissipating the glow a bit, whatever it was, so it seemed like we were in the clear.

"You IDIOT!"

I was taken aback. I was used to being called an idiot, but this was the first time I found it insulting.

"You just messed me up!"

"Well, you were trying to cast a spell on our home. What'd you expect?"

"I was trying to cast a minor spell, but now things have been wrecked."

"Hold on, _minor_ spell?"

"*sigh* I just like being evil, so I thought I might place a curse on your home. Of course, if you hadn't interrupted, I could've allowed a way to lift the curse."

"Well, if our home is cursed, we might as well know what'll happen. Care to enlighten us, dipstick?"

"Watch your mouth. Anyway, if anyone, including you, is on your exterior property between sunset and sunrise, they will change into a vampire. They will remain that way until sunup. However, the vampire will become a part of them. They will transform every night at sundown. Since you had to mess everything up, I can't help you lift the curse."

"But we can."

"Yeah, what she said."

We all turned around to see Aria and Sonata, standing there like proud mounties. Man, I miss British Columbia so much.

"You can?" I was curious as to how they could help.

"Simple. We just tap into Adagio's magic source and we can provide means for lifting this curse."

"You know, you bunch of people are awfully quiet today." Oh, Sonata. Don't ever change.

"Sorry, we're just having a hard time dealing with the situation at hand." Isn't it wonderful how Connor can't come up with a witty comeback to save his life.

"Here goes nothin'." Aria and Sonata both placed a finger on redhead's forehead. Moments later, they removed their fingers, and directed them towards the house.

"Quod amor connectat et cor solveris maledictio veniat." While they said this, the house got a soft green glow, then it disappeared quicker than it came.

"There, the deed is done."

"Um, hate to break it to you, but even Connor can't speak or understand...whatever that was, and that's a proven fact."

"Translation: when love connects a heart and mind, this curse will come to unbind."

I figured it would be easy. Except I had no love interest. Plus, I figured it wasn't that easy anyway. I mean, sure, it's a classic curse lifter, but nowadays, not so much.

"Anyway, that can't be too hard."

Sadly, I was horribly mistaken.

~Months later~

I had planned a wicked hangout at our place, and I had invited all of those gals, even Adagio. I figured I should invite Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle, seeing as how she was back in town for a few weeks.

We had bought the newest teen movie, and I was cuddled with Sonata and Fluttershy. I couldn't decide if being in a love triangle was good or bad. Halfway through the movie, Fluttershy complained that she was getting a little overheated. She decided to step outside for a moment, and that's when we realized our mistake.

As soon as she stepped out, we heard her scream. We ran to the window next to the front door, and her transformation had begun. We tried to open the door, but to our demise, it wouldn't budge. We tried to unlock it, but it was already unlocked. I glared at Adagio.

"This is all your fault.


	21. Chapter 20: The Change

We all stared at Fluttershy. She was writhing in agony on the ground as she was changing. Her hair got all frazzled, and her colors changed to a duller shade. Her eyes changed from teal to blood red. She grew wings from her back. Her fingernails sharpened themselves to a sharp point. She grew fangs from her mouth. Her ears got pointy.

When she finished changing, she lay still, and exactly sixty seconds later, she stood. She looked in the doorway and stared like a lost puppy. She didn't seem to be a vampire, except the presentation, but when tried to let her in, Connor slapped my hand away.

"You moron. She's a vampire. She could bite you in the neck, or the shoulder, or the—"

I grabbed him by the shoulders and slapped his face.

"One, your very annoying, yes that's kind of ironic, but you and your English accent are driving us bananas. Am I right?"

Mike nodded. Johnny and Jake commented "no doubt," and the girls were pretty similar.

"Two, she's Fluttershy. What harm could she possibly do."

Twilight butted in with her comment. "Actually, Alex, you might be surprised."

"And why would I be?"

"Because mfph." Applejack covered Twilight's mouth in an attempt to shut her up. I, however, just walked up to her and peeled the hand off. "Go on, tell me. I got _all_ night."

"Um, actually, you might think it's a little farfetched."

"Try me."

"Okay, you brought this on yourself. Girls?"

They all linked hands and shouted "friendship is magic." After nothing happened, Mike began laughing so hard he probably bust his gut. Connor face palmed. Jake looked away in disgust. Johnny tilted his head in confusion. I just stared, and blatantly said "Wow. Lovely. Now can we get back to the real world, pretty please?"

Twilight looked at me and gulped. Apparently, things had not worked out in her favor. She began turning a bright crimson, and I rolled my eyes.

"Listen, you seem like a nice group of friends, but you are all kinda weird. So how about you five and Flash Sentry just skedaddle on outta here. I'll loan you some anti vampire items, and collect them tomorrow here."

She looked at me in confusion, and I held out the cross I had in my pocket. I knew for a fact that vampires are afraid of them, because according to ancient folklore, they cause burning on their skin. She agreed, and I led them to my room, which smelled like garlic. Vampires have an excellent sense of smell, and garlic smells like crap. However, the human nose only picks up the scent of an Italian spice.

Twilight took the cross, Applejack grabbed a string of garlic, Rainbow Dash found a wooden mallet and stake, which is the only weapon that can eliminate a vampire. Rarity took a small sealed cup of holy water, which I had gotten as a special request from a hidden church that believes in vampires. I loaned Pinkie Pie my 1000 watt flashlight, as vampires are unable to withstand bright light. As for Flash, well, I found an old crucifix in my dresser. I figured as long as they had these items, they could bypass the spell cursing the area.

To my surprise, my idea worked. The girls passed the driveway with no trouble at all. Once they were gone, I motioned for Fluttershy, still a vampire, to come hither. She entered, and the rest of us, Mike, Connor, Jake, Johnny, Sonata, Aria, and Adagio (unfortunately) immediately dimmed the lights, except for one, our smartphones. I turned mine on, and I had a white screen with a red maple leaf. Jake had an red and white stripes, and Johnny had a five point star. Mike had a four leaf clover, and Connor had a crack. A legitimate one.

"Alex? Did you use my phone again?"

"Sorry, but you know mine doesn't support the software I like."

"Ugh, you ungrateful imbecile."

"Guys, calm down." That's the Mike I know. Always there to break up a conflict.

Jake left, and minutes later, he returned with candles. "Vanilla lemon swirl" for me. "Spearmint chocolate ripple" for Mike. "Cotton candy banana mix" for Johnny. "Blueberry muffin" for Jake. And for Connor, "cinnamon medley." For the sirens, I found an orange, a cherry, and a taco scented one I got at a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Man, that was LAME! But that's another story.

We lit our candles, and we moved around the house looking for our bedrooms. I let Fluttershy hang from the ceiling in my room. I attached a net to a hook, and before I hung it up, I let her climb in. Sonata said she wanted to climb in, but I told her there was barely any room for _one_ person.

Needless to say, we fell asleep, and I had the strangest dream. I dreamed I was in a dream, and I was dreaming about being in a dream. I decided I wasn't watching any more of those cop shows at night anymore.

Sonata's POV

I woke up the next morning with a small headache. I figured I could just take some pain killers, and I'd be fine. But when I looked in the mirror, I got a huge shock. I noticed my neck had two very small holes on the side. I had no idea what they were, but then I began to get real thirsty. I looked back at my alarm clock. _4:30? That can't be right. I explicitly set my alarm for __**seven**__ thirty. Oh well, maybe I'll just reset it in the morning._

At sunrise, I heard a weird stirring noise coming from Fluttershy's net. I was confused, but then I knew what was going on. I rushed over to the other side of the room.

"Alex. Wake up. It's happening."

"*groan* Wha...what is it?...Oh wait. Lemme get my camera."

He grabbed a video camera, and he started recording the net. Good thing it was one of those nets that look like basketball hoops.

Fluttershy began to change. Her wings folded back into her back, her skin tone lightened, her fangs receded, her nails shortened, her hair was less tangled, her red eyes changed back into teal, and her ears rounded out again.

"What, where am I? I thought I was outside, trying to...oh. Was I awful?"

"Dunno. Don't think you bit anyone. Wait, Sonata, show me your neck."

I parted my neck, and Alex was indifferent. I showed him the other side of my neck, and he flipped. He ran to the bathroom, and he screamed.

"Ah, sh*t! F*ck tard! Holy mother of god! Sweet bejeezus! God damn! Mother—"

"Shut up!"

"I've been bitten!"

Almost immediately, the room got crowded.

"And so has Sonata!"

I looked at Fluttershy, who was now cowering in the corner. I walked over to her, and she cowered more.

"Hey, Fluttershy. Something wrong?"

"I bit you two, and now you'll both be vampires."

I glanced away for a second. I knew she was right, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think this was the worst thing to ever happen.

"Look on the bright side, Fluttershy."

"Yeah?"

"We don't think of you any less. Well, at least _I_ don't."

She smiled for a little bit, then we heard Alex collapse on the bed next to us, and her smiled faded.

"This is the end. I need to find out how to break this damn curse."

Connor giggled. "Now the poor bloke has lost it. What say we torture him?"

"NO!" The other three shouted.

"Um, Mike, why don't you wear any pajamas?"

"That's a wonderful question, Adagio. Unfortunately, until I have consumed my daily coffee, I am *yawn* not inclined to answer stupid questions." After living here for almost half a year now, I've become accustomed to Mike, ever the smartass.

"Can we just move on? Sonata and I are still infected, and we don't know how to lift the curse."

I shuddered. He was right. The counter spell Aria and I had placed needed something very special, and none of us could provide it. The room was quiet, until Fluttershy broke the silence.

"Well, in any case, we still need to eat breakfast. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."

We glanced at her. She was never "starving." Very hungry, maybe, perhaps even famished, but she never reported being "starving."

"I'm craving steak. Juicy, tender steak. Very rare steak. In fact, almost raw. All that meat, and its blood pool."

Jake walked over to her and snapped his fingers in her face. She flustered for a second. But she didn't talk about steak anymore.

"I'm still hungry though. Maybe a nice omelette would be great."

We talked, and it was decided we would have omelettes.

**A/N: Man, what a long chapter. I just had a breakthrough. Perhaps I should do this more often. I can't believe I managed to sneak in a Flutterbat plot twister. I'm so awesome. What'll happen next. Be sure to check out the poll on my profile.**


	22. Chapter 21: the Ticket Trouble

Mike's POV

Although Alex isn't known for his intellect, he was right. We needed to break the curse before anything bad happened. I pondered this thought while frying omelettes.

After taking orders for omelettes, I began working on Alex's omelette first, and he just wanted the eggs. Once I finished, I worked on Fluttershy's, who had requested _cooked _steak. Jake wanted potatoes, Connor wanted sausage, Johnny wanted pepperoni, and I made myself a cheesy pepperoni pizza omelette with sausage and bacon, even going to the trouble of adding tomato sauce. Sonata requested some ground beef, lettuce, and cheese. Aria asked for some bacon. Adagio skipped the omelettes and grabbed a bowl, filling it with milk.

Once all omelette orders were satisfied, I situated myself at the dining table, and proceeded to eat my breakfast, only to get a weird look from Adagio.

"Who eats omelettes with pizza toppings?"

I replied with a smug grin. "You would be surprised." I happened to know a few schoolmates who had eating habits similar to mine. "Let's see, their names are...Cloud Kicker, Cloud_chaser_, Flitter, Normal Norman, Bulk Biceps, and then there's those guys who call themselves the 'Diamond Dawgs' or something." I resumed eating, only to be interrupted again.

"Mike, these omelettes are awful. Mine tastes like dirt." Connor poked at his omelette.

I replied, rather annoyed. "Well, maybe it's because you _look_ like dirt, you bozo."

The look on his face was priceless. The rest of the day, we heard nothing from. The sirens, minus Adagio, said they loved the omelettes.

"Mike, this omelette is super awesome. No offense, but I still like tacos better."

I chuckled. "None taken, Sonata. Why won't Adagio eat an omelette?"

Aria replied. "Allergy to eggs. Poor sucker. These omelettes are wonderful." She was practically inhaling it. At that point, I figured I should make more omelettes. After all, if these girls loved them, I figured I would make them more often.

I went back to the kitchen, and sadly, we had run out of eggs. I announced the news to my fellow housemates, and they were pretty disappointed, but they were still glad to have gotten omelettes in the first place. On that note, I picked up after myself, cleaned up my skillet, and proceeded to continue my day.

Fluttershy's POV

I got to school, and everything was normal. The classes were all the same. The lunch was still edible, although it tasted rather bland today. The hallways were still crowded. However, I went into the bathroom, and I knew things were bad. I looked in the mirror, and there was nothing. I tried pinching myself to see if I was awake, and sure enough, I was awake.

I heard the slam of the door, and some other girl came in to put on makeup. She glanced over at my mirror, and I noticed her face becoming pale. She began backing away, rather slowly.

"Please, don't hurt me."

I responded, shocked. "Why would I hurt you?"

"Because that's what vampires do. They feed off of our blood, and they—"

I slapped her, regretting it almost instantly. "First off, I was put into this position against my will. Second, I am possibly the nicest person in this school. Third, I pass out at the sight of blood. Fourth, one of those sirens did this to me, so don't whine about it to me." I was practically yelling. And I mean actual yelling, not my own kind of yelling.

She backed up more, until she hit the wall behind her. She looked very scared. I realized my mistake.

"Listen, I'm sorry, but I'm just upset that I have to suffer this curse. You see, Adagio placed a curse on our house, and basically, it causes you to become a vampire."

She looked at me less fearfully, and more sympathetic. She was about to pull me into a hug, but then...

"Wait, what's the cure?"

"Oh, um...I think it's a simple case of true love. How convenient."

She faced the mirror again, supposedly trying to convince herself that this was real. She looked at me again.

"Listen, I'm sorry for all that commotion. I'm Amethyst Star." She stuck out her hand.

"Fluttershy. Don't I know you from somewhere?" I asked, shaking her hand.

'Hmm, let's see...I dated Mike once, but he started getting pretty egotistical, and I couldn't stand it. Hope he's doing okay, though."

I sighed. "He's doing fine, although he has mentioned your name a couple times. Anyway, this curse placed on me is kinda long to explain."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I got time."

I explained the curse to her, and she got all wide eyed. Once I finished, she pulled me into a hug, something I had not planned on.

"I'm sorry this happened to you."

I hugged her back. "It's not your fault, don't worry about it." Eventually, we separated.

"Do you still think you can make it to the dance next weekend? Because I was hoping we'd get as many people as possible."

I thought for a moment, then I decided I would go.

"Great. Tickets are available in the lunchroom, and they cost five dollars for a single, eight dollars for a couple."

"Sounds good, Amethyst." And with that, the lunch bell rang. We parted ways, and I grabbed my stuff from the chemistry lab, headed straight for the cafeteria.

I walked through the giant doors, and saw a giant poster that said "Taco Tuesday." I grabbed my tray, and Granny Smith, the lunch lady, handed me a taco shell with beef, lettuce, cheese, and a small container of sour cream on the side.

At the usual table, it was us five girls plus Sunset Shimmer, those five guys, and Sonata and Aria. They were discussing plans for the dance as I arrived.

Rarity spoke to me first. "Oh, darling, you're finally here. We were just discussing our plans for the dance. It's too bad you can't make it."

"Actually, I plan to buy a ticket later today."

Rarity responded happily, to simply put it. Applejack spoke next.

"Say, Fluttershy, you doing alright? We saw what happened to you last night, and I'm just worried about you."

I was rather calm about the whole thing. "Oh, don't worry, I'm fine. I don't remember what happened, though, but I'm still alive, right?"

Connor, quite the pessimistic egghead, was skeptical. "Right...totally."

"What? Is that bad?" I got nervous.

Connor replied. "See, the thing is...vampires are technically, so to say...undead, meaning neither alive nor dead." It was there Alex slapped him upside the head, and then spoke.

"Anyway, I was hoping to get myself a ticket, but bonehead here confiscated my wallet." He glared at Johnny.

"What? Babies are expensive." Poor Johnny. Rainbow Dash had been raped by a student who is now a fugitive of justice, and became pregnant. Johnny, practically worshipping her, offered to be her baby daddy, and now they are somehow managing to continue high school.

Alex just glared at him, being joined by Rainbow Dash herself, and Johnny got their message. "Alright, fine, I'll stop stealing, but what else am I supposed to do?"

The rest of us all shouted, "GET A JOB!"

Alex dumped his tray, and on the way back, lowered his hand behind Johnny.

"I'll take _this_ back."

"Hey!"

I dumped my own tray, and headed towards the ticket booth. I grabbed my five dollars, ready to buy my ticket. I got to the person selling them, and I said I wanted a ticket.

"Uh huh, sure, that'll—wait a minute. Fluttershy? You? Buying a ticket? To the dance? Yeah right. Don't make me laugh." She startled snickering, and I felt ashamed. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to buy a ticket. I began to walk away, when I heard Alex's voice behind me.

"Two tickets."

"Eight dollars. Who's your date?"

"Fluttershy." He turned to me. "If that's cool with you, I mean."

I think I blushed, but I smiled. "I don't mind."

Alex's POV

I prepared to buy my tickets, but the seller started laughing. I began to lose my temper, but remained calm.

"Two tickets. Now."

"Uh huh, sure. With Fluttershy? No chance."

I remained calm for awhile, but after three more failed attempts, I decided to negotiate.

"Question. Why not?"

"Answer. Because Fluttershy doesn't deserve to go to the dance."

I began to feel rather annoyed, so I tried to press for information.

"What did she ever do to you? And what's your name, just out of curiosity?"

"I'm Trixie, and I just know her so well. She happens to fear crowded areas, and she also stole my boyfriend a couple years ago. I won't discuss it, but I feel those are the reasons she shouldn't attend the dance."

"How about this: I give you ten dollars for both tickets. Deal?"

I stuck out my hand, only to have it rejected. "You're dead set on this, aren't you? Well I'm afraid I decline."

_If that's how it's gonna be, then so be it._ I felt my last option was to take the tickets and run, but I held my position.

"Listen, all a guy wants is two tickets to the dance, but I got a stubborn bitch for a seller that refuses to do her own job." It was when I said "bitch" that she went berserk. That part, however, has been edited for time purposes, and can only be seen on the blu ray release.

Anyway, I shoved my eight single bills into her mouth (bad idea) and Fluttershy, having witnessed everything, grabbed two tickets and rushed back to the table, followed by, you guessed it, me.

We got back to the table, and everyone was tense. I asked what about, and they responded that it was about the whole ticket fiasco.

"Well, get this. I was this close to stuffing the money in her bra." The girls instantly gasped at this, while the guys congratulated me, and Connor slapped me upside the head again.

"What? From the way she was acting, I had half a mind to do it." Connor replied rather quickly.

"That would require a full mind first, nimrod. Though congrats on getting the tickets."

"Thanks, Connor. Say, who are you going with?"

He fidgeted slightly before answering. "Truth is, I prefer to go alone." Once again, a back-headed slap was delivered.

"Get a date. It'll be much more fun with a date to dance with."

He left, dumped his tray, and went to buy a ticket. Trixie got pretty mad at him, but he eventually got a ticket.


	23. Chapter 22: The Dance

Alex's POV

About a week and a half went by, and Fluttershy became Flutterbat each night. Eventually, there came the night of the dance, and everyone was hyped about it. I had gotten a pale yellow shirt, with a soft pink tie. I went to pick up Fluttershy from her house, and she was wearing a white dress with yellow maple leaves scattered all over it.

I had managed to rent a limo, because I knew that my adoptive brother, Soarin Heights, was known as the national superstar in soccer, so he was very famous, and he conveniently my happened to be in town, so yadda yadda, you know.

As the limo started heading towards Warehouse 27, where the dance was, Fluttershy and I talked.

"Listen, Fluttershy, you know we're good friends, right?"

"Yes, I know."

"Well, you should know I didn't buy two tickets just so you could get one."

"...what?"

"Fluttershy, I really like you. As more than a friend. I have had a crush on you ever since I came here to Canterlot. I have been trying to ask you out all year, but I myself am an introvert, and could not bring myself to do it. I hope you realize that when I say all this, I truly mean it. Every last word."

She was silent for a long time, blushing during the silence. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a ring I had bought a very long time ago.

"Can we take our friendship to the next level?"

We were silent for a few seconds before she spoke up.

"Yes." My heart just melted. I placed the ring on her finger, and she admired it. It was just a silver ring, nothing terribly special, but I was thrilled to see her wearing it. We pulled up at the warehouse, and the limo driver spoke to me.

"I'm afraid this is as far as I can take ya, kid. Your hours of renting have officially expired. Good luck finding a ride home." And he drove off.

"Big deal. We're here, aren't we Fluttershy?" I faced the warehouse, which was decorated in steamers and balloons. As Pinkie Pie would say, it's not a party without streamers and balloons.

"You know, I can't wait for this. I have been waiting forever for this opportunity, and now's my chance to truly have a good time."

I wrapped my arm around my new girlfriend as we walked towards the warehouse. We got inside, and DJ-Pon3 was at her station, mixing up a hit tune. I walked up to her and asked if I could try my hand at this. She had a computer set up, and I showed her my USB drive. She nodded, saying she should finish her tune first.

When she was done, she hit pause on her looping playlist. She grabbed a microphone and spoke into it.

"Alrighty, dudes and dudettes alike. We have here a dude who is going to slow things down a bit for you couples out there with a couple of his original mixes. Heeeeeere's Alex Heights."

I heard the erupting applause of the audience as I began to start my tune. I also spoke into the microphone.

"These tunes go out to a certain girl in the audience tonight. Her name is Fluttershy, and she has made my life worthwhile. Thank you."

["Someone Like Me" by Aviators]

I started out with a piano intro, playing it before I began to sing.

_I'm feelin' like a photograph,_

_Life, it changes, but it goes by fast, and_

_Far too fast for me to catch._

_They tell me I'm too insecure,_

_That I should believe in myself more,_

_If...only it was as easy as that._

_Sometimes I just feel like,_

_A stranger in my life._

_Sometimes I don't feel right at all._

_I may be lonely,_

_But maybe I'm supposed to be, 'cause,_

_No one's there to hear me when I...call._

_Things get complicated,_

_So I've watched and waited,_

_For the moment I find someone like me._

_I feel so underrated,_

_Some just leave me frustrated,_

_Feels like I'll never find someone like me._

I let the instrumentals play for a few seconds, before I looked towards Fluttershy and winked. She blew a kiss, and I caught it in the air before returning to my song.

_My wings feel broken, but they work fine,_

_I, guess confidence never was mine._

_Harsh words can leave me stunned._

_Some say I'm unique and others strange,_

_Some, say I'm just living up to my name,_

_But, I can't be the only one._

_Sometimes I just feel like,_

_A stranger in my life._

_Sometimes I don't feel right at all._

_I may be lonely,_

_But maybe I'm supposed to be, 'cause,_

_No one's there to hear me when I...call._

_Things get complicated,_

_So I've watched and waited,_

_For the moment I find someone like me._

_I feel so underrated,_

_Some just leave me frustrated,_

_Feels like I'll never find someone like me._

_Just when I thought, I was all alone,_

_You came and showed me I'm not on my own._

_I'm not that different, you've made me see,_

_I've finally found, someone like, me..._

_Things get complicated,_

_So I've watched and waited,_

_For the moment I find someone like me._

_I feel so underrated,_

_Some just leave me frustrated,_

_Maybe I've finally someone like me._

_Things get complicated,_

_So I've watched and waited,_

_For the moment I find someone like me._

_I feel so underrated,_

_Some just leave me frustrated,_

_Feels like I'll never find someone like me._

_(Oooooooooooh) Someone like me..._

_Someone like...me._

I prepared to play next song, but before I did, I grabbed the microphone again.

"Okay, this one is a little faster, but still kinda smooth. Just a heads up."

["Sight Unseen" by Black Gryph0n]

_*instrumental*_

_Wide awake, 'bout to break the clock that's ticking beside my bed.  
_

_Trying to, find a way to erase the voices screaming inside my head._

_But I bite my lip, polite, fake a smile and just walk away._

_It's not like I'm the only one afraid of heights anyway._

_So I'm catching my breath, I'm just one of the rest._

_I hope to be the best but I've done nothing yet._

_I can't seem to see what they want me to be.  
_

_Being a sight unseen is second nature to me.  
_

_Am I the only one who believes I can do anything?_

_Oh, it seems so long ago,_

_I found a place that I call home._

_Fell right out of the sky,_

_Right before I started fading away_

_And oh, even though my eyes are closed,_

_I'm by myself, but no I'm not alone._

_And I'm scared, because I've never been so unafraid._

_Back again, remember when it use to happen to me all the time._

_Single file, all the while they never run out of punch lines._

_I'd disappear, but they're holding me here against every plea I've made._

_I can't cry, I guess I'm use to it happening every day._

_So I'm catching my breath, I'm not one of the rest._

_I will be the best, just haven't shown them yet._

_They still can't see just what they're doing to me._

_Though sight unseen, I am a masterpiece._

_And I'm not the only one who believes I can do anything!_

_Oh, it seems so long ago,_

_I found a place that I call home.  
_

_Fell right out of the sky,  
_

_Right before I started fading away._

_And oh, even though my eyes are closed,_

_I'm by myself, but no I'm not alone._

_And I'm scared, because I've never been so unafraid._

During some more instrumentals, I noticed Fluttershy was smiling, like, not the "I'm so embarrassed" smile, but rather the "I love you" smile. I felt myself shed a tear, and I nearly forgot about the song. I regained my composure, however, but kept Fluttershy in my mind as I resumed singing.

_So I'm catching my breath, I'm not one of the rest.  
_

_I will be the best, just haven't shown them yet.  
_

_They still can't see just what they're doing to me.  
_

_Though sight unseen, I am a masterpiece.  
_

_And I'm not the only one who believes I can do anything!  
_

I felt myself being lifted in the air, and I felt ears grow from the top of my head, as well as my hair getting an extension during that part, and upon repeating the chorus, the room was illuminated in a bright white light.

_Oh, it seems so long ago,_

_I found a place that I call home._

_Fell right out of the sky,  
_

_Right before I started fading away._

_And oh, even though my eyes are closed,_

_I'm by myself, but no I'm not alone._

_And I'm scared, because I've never been so unafraid._

I floated back down to the ground, still being in my changed form, and everyone was staring at me, especially five certain girls. They know who they were.

Fluttershy ran up to me, and we locked lips. In front of everyone. And I didn't mind. And I don't think she did either. She whispered in my ear.

"That was beautiful, Alex."

~Hours later~

"Man, that was awesome." Mike and Pinkie Pie were walking with us to the parking lot, where Jake had borrowed a limo from Vinyl Scratch.

"I know, right? I mean, there you were, doing your stuff, and suddenly, you're flying and...changing, I guess." Jake. The one who had the assumed best night ever.

Johnny interjected with his comment. "And then you got a big smooch—ow, Connor!" Isn't it wonderful how upside slaps to the head appear so frequently?

"Man oh man, what a—LOOK OUT!"

I shoved Fluttershy out of the way of a box flying through the air as I took the hit instead of her. I began to feel very dizzy.

"Oh...are...kay" was all I heard Mike say. I tried speaking, but all I could say was "I'm fine, I'll...home...some...just..." before I fell to the ground.


	24. Chapter 23: The Accident

Fluttershy's POV

He had pushed me out of the way of an oncoming disaster, and was out cold. He spoke a few words before collapsing. I screamed, and an actual ear piercing scream. Instantly, the other four girls and two sirens came from different directions.

"What is it? What's—holy shit! He's bleeding badly!" Rainbow Dash was the closest to us. Rarity appeared next.

"What happened here? Oh my gosh, he looks awful!" That's pretty much how every comment was, with Rarity managing to not faint.

"Quick, we need to get him to the hospital. No time to lose." I grabbed him, and Jake ran us to his limo, telling the driver to head to the nearest hospital.

Once we arrived, we ran up to the front desk, saying he needed urgent care. Five doctors ran up to us, grabbing him and whisking him down the hallway to our right. I told Rainbow Dash to call Soarin, knowing his parents had adopted Alex when he was young.

About half an hour later, he appeared in the waiting room with us. He was in tears.

"Oh, god, please, no. Please don't be dead. Please. DON'T DIE!"

Applejack placed a comforting hand around him. "Don't worry, sugarcube. Y'all ain't alone."

"*sniffle* What exactly happened? Please tell me."

Fluttershy responded. "Some drunk driver was passing by, and one of his boxes was flying towards me. He shoved me out of the way, and in turn, he took the fall. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Suddenly, a nurse appeared. She had soft pink hair, white skin, and a sad look on her face.

"I regret to inform you all of this, but it appears Alexander has gone into a coma." Soarin just cried harder.

"You may all visit him for five minutes a person. Do not expect him to react to you at all."

Each of the others got to visit him in the room, but they all came back with the same reply: still comatose. Eventually I got to visit.

I entered his room, and he lay there, motionless, hands crossed over his chest. I sat down next to him, crying my heart out.

_Why did this have to happen? Why did it have to be tonight of all nights? Isn't the phrase "love hath no greater man?" Me! It should be ME lying in this bed. Cold, silent, motionless me, being on the verge of death with my head wrapped in bandages. Not you, Alex, but me._

I leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, lingering for a few seconds, before I pulled back. Just then, I heard his heart monitor beep faster, and I heard his voice.

"Fluttershy, you complete me." He pulled me back down, and he kissed me again. When we separated, I felt myself being lifted into the air by swirling lights. My back grew the bat wings, but then they disappeared like dust in the wind. Once I was placed on the ground again, I stood there in surprise.

"What just happened?"

Alex pointed out very weakly that he thought I had lifted the curse. I ran out of the room, screaming with joy.

"He's alive!"

Instantly, the others celebrated. Confetti appeared out of nowhere. We all hugged each other. Soarin hugged me particularly tight.

The nurse came back into the waiting room, saw what was happening, and slowly backed away.


	25. Chapter 24: The (Unplanned) Date

As I was transported home by Fluttershy, she began asking about my performance. I wondered why she hadn't brought it up earlier.

"What happened there? I thought it could only happen to me and my friends."

I scratched my chin. She had a good point. Why did that happen to me?

"I don't really know. Perhaps we should talk to Twilight Sparkle about this."

Anywho, she drove to her home, and we went inside, where the guys, the girls, my brother Soarin, and two sirens were. They all seemed to be pretty enlightened when I entered. Soarin actually ran up to me and hugged me.

"Oh my god, I'm glad you're okay!"

As much as I loved my brother, it was embarrassing to be hugged in public. But I let him hug me anyway. I pretty much just scared the hell outta him, plus, we weren't in public, so I figured, what the heck.

Anyway, after all the hullabaloo, I decided to head to my room. Just before I entered, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Twilight was behind me.

"Whatcha need?"

She placed her hand being her head before responding.

"Uh, I was wondering if we could talk about your performance. That certainly was interesting, to say the least."

"Come on in, I'm all ears."

She walked into my room, and we plopped ourselves onto my mattress. Well, she did. I ended up on the ground behind the mattress.

Twilight Sparkle's POV

His bedroom was...I don't know. There was an electric guitar hanging on his wall, and when I commented on his guitar neck, he seemed pretty annoyed.

"It was built that way. The neck was built with angles in it. Sure, it makes it look like a tree branch, but it works for me."

I was intrigued that it was what he liked, but when I said it was "just some dumb guitar," he literally went crazy.

"*stutter* Just some dumb guitar? JUST some dumb guitar? JUST SOME DUMB GUITAR?! Look–look at this. This is a platinum coated mahogany Gibson Reverse Flying V. These strings are pure copper. And, and, and look—hand signed by the king of punk rock, Willy Moe Armstrong. WILLY MOE ARMSTRONG!"

It was at that point I gave him the slap from those "V9" commercials. You know, palm to the forehead.

"Get a grip, Alex. Awesome, a guitar. Now let's get back to the main issue."

He calms down quickly, I realized. He took a breather, and spoke again.

"Sorry, Twilight. I'm just, you know, bipolar, so...and, I'm kinda protective of my guitar."

I forgave him, telling him it was fine.

"Alrighty then, whaddya wanna talk about?"

I told him about his performance at the dance, and what happened.

"That kinda thing has only happened to my friends and me. I've only known you ever since the whole 'vampire Fluttershy' thing, and that was just a few weeks ago. Plus, there is something you need to know about me."

"What? You got the hots for me too?"

I flicked him on the forehead.

"Ow. Watch it, this thing is sensitive, you know."

"No, twithead. I'm not into you at all. You know that."

"Jeez, I'm teasing. Chillax."

"Anyway, I need you to know that I'm a pony princess from another world. Equestria, to be precise. I happen to harness a crown that contains magical powers, and that my friends do the same thing you did whenever we're defeating a villain. But you, you aren't connected to us at all. You have no magical powers. Your Equestrian form is a godlike being, sure, but you're not connected to the Elements of Harmony in any way whatsoever. In addition, the _mfph—_"

He pressed a finger to my mouth, clearly telling me to stop talking.

"Listen, that's nice and all, but you're talking too fast. Seriously, even Connor can't process that quickly."

I removed his finger from my mouth, and I told him that it was all true.

"I know. I believe you. I saw the statue when you passed through it after the Fall Formal, as well as during the Battle of the Bands. Kinda trippy, if you ask me. But anyways, I know you're from...somewhere else, but—wait. Godlike being?"

Just then, the other boys entered the room.

"What's this I hear about Alex being a godlike figure?"

Alex quickly responded to Johnny's question.

"Oh hey, Johnny. She was just telling me that I'm a god in the other place."

I nodded, adding onto his comment.

"Actually, all four of you are godlike figures. You four are the AlphaGuardians, rulers of Equestria since the beginning of time, quite literally."

They gave each other excited glances, but then...

"Wait. Four? Don't you mean five? I mean, there's Alex, Me, Johnny, Connor, and Jake."

"No, I'm afraid it's just the first four of you, Mike. Jake isn't even seen around the place."

Jake removed his hat from his head.

"Figures. I never was one for getting out much, like Alex here."

I giggled, but then delivered the news.

"Actually, Jake, I've travelled all around the world, talked to these guys, and even checked records. I'm afraid you don't even exist."

He glanced at me, his expression no longer positive, but rather stolid and emotionless.

"Oh."

He left the room in utter silence. He was followed by the other four. Johnny, Connor, Mike, and Alex. Yes, even Alex left his own bedroom.

"I'm gonna go comfort him. He has issues about this sorta thing."

Meanwhile, I was left in the bedroom of a bipolar Canadian weird-guitar-owning kid on my own.

Jake's POV

I just learned that in this other world where the purple girl is from, I'm not even real there. I have unresolved feelings about that, and it just made me feel very depressed knowing that it was hard enough that my family is known for its curse. As you readers may already know, my family is made up of only childs, but what you don't know is that it was a curse.

Long ago, my great grandfather, Isaac Dennis, was cursed for trotting onto the land of a certain Native American tribe. He was known as a great outlaw, but it was Chief Niwot of the Arapahoes who ruined him. He was cursed with a barren family tree. Ever since, things have been hard for our family.

I went to bed remaining in my state, but my dream was weird. I was playing with my pals, Kennedy "Harken" Harvard, Tyler Ferguson, and Lucas Wentford. We were playing with a soccer ball, running around, when suddenly, just as I was about to throw it, my world went dark, and the next thing I knew, I was in a hospital.

The doctors had examined me, looking for results, but they had come up short, and my parents were devastated. As I lay in my hospital bed, I had a vision. There was a blue pony, with my exact hairstyle, and my exact hat, in the same condition as me. Diseased, with no known diagnosis. I heard him speak, and his voice was exactly like mine.

"Take my hoof, Jake. Go on, touch it."

I reached out, copying the other me, and there was magic glitter surrounding us. Suddenly, his body collapsed, lifeless, while I started feeling better. The heart monitor next to me began beeping more frequently, and my parents looked at me, their expression changing from horrified to overjoyed.

Anywho, I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to return to slumber. I decided to grab twenty dollars from my wallet and head out, making sure not to wake up anyone. I started walking towards a convenience store that Superintendent Discord had mentioned some time ago. Along the way, I bumped into Applejack, which led to a conversation.

"Y'all couldn't sleep either?"

"Guess not. Had the weirdest dream, though I'd rather not talk about it."

"How's Alex doin'? Ya know, with the head injury 'n' all?"

"He's fine, AJ. Healed real fast, the son of a gun."

"*sigh* Glad he's alright. Where ya headed?"

"Headed to that convenience store down the road. You?"

"Same, Jake. Figured if I ain't sleeping, I might as well relieve myself of this hunger."

"My thoughts exactly. Say, Applejack?"

"Hm?"

"Do you still consider me to be 'bad luck?' Or are you done with that?"

She thought hard for a moment, before finally responding.

"I guess I'm over it. I guess it was just my mood swings going nuts." She then started to cry.

"Applejack? What's wrong?"

She hugged me real tight. I actually felt my ribs shifting.

"I just miss the baby so much. We were gonna be parents, and it died on us. I had a miscarriage, Jake. All because of that goddamn sick bastard Sombra."

"Applejack...can't breathe...lights...fading...rose...bud..."

"Uh, heh heh, sorry, I'm just..."

I gulped in the much needed air, and replied to her.

"I know. I'm sorry about that."

We stood there for awhile. Eventually, we headed towards the place again, and when we got there, we stared at the sign for the place.

"Man. 6-Fourteen. Who would've thought I'd find myself here?"

"Same here, AJ. Same here."

We walked in together. I grabbed myself a tall can of soda and a tiny pepperoni pizza. Applejack had a slushie and a bacon burger. The grand total was $21.53, plus tax.

"Crap. I only have $20."

"Relax, sugarcube, I'll spot y'all a fiver."

We paid for our items, getting back $1.75, which Applejack took, and we sat on the curb in front of the building.

"You know, I've been thinking about what happened in my dream."

"And what was your dream about?"

I spilled my guts to her, and she was shocked.

"You mean you're the only one that exists? No pony form or anything?"

I hung my head. Hearing that again made me feel depressed again, but this time, I didn't feel so bad.

As we finished our items, we were headed home, when Applejack stopped me. She pulled me closer to her.

"Jake, I really had a great time tonight. Thank you."

I was confused at first, but then I got her drift.

"Hey, Applejack, I know it's kinda sudden, but will you be my girlfriend?"

She immediately pulled me into a kiss, and everything felt wonderful. About a minute later, she separated.

"That answer your question, cutie?"

**A/N: Sorry about the delay people, but life has had its mishaps with me. Running low on ideas, getting a new phone, which is what I use to write fanfics, so...yeah. Now, about—**

**Discord: Guess who?**

**Yterbius: Chicken poo?**

**D: You don't have to be rude.**

**Y: You don't have to interrupt.**

**D: I was just gonna ask for another chance to write stories.**

**Y: I was just gonna refuse to let you, as well as ask you to leave.**

**?: Can I please go play outside?**

**Y: Sure, North Star. Go have fun, and be back by seven thirty.**

**NS: Thanks, Dad. (slams door)**

**Y: *sigh* Kids. They grow up so fast.**


	26. Chapter 25: The Tragedy

Applejack's POV

I went home from my "date," and Granny Smith was waiting for me. She looked like she had just swallowed a pickle whole.

"And just where have _you_ been, missy?"

I started sweating nervously, as I tried to come up with an excuse, but knowing it would be wrong, I fessed up.

"I was having trouble sleeping, so I headed out to that 6-Fourteen place, and Jake was coincidentally there. We hung out, he bought stuff, as well as my stuff, and we talked. He's having trouble, though, and I'm hoping I can help him."

Her expression remained negative, and I had a feeling that it would stay that way for a long time.

"I can't believe you're spending time around this guy, especially since he got you...well, you know."

"What? He ain't the one, that was that criminal. _He_ got me pregnant, and Jake was just looking after me. He did nothing wrong, honest!"

She had completely ignored me, and pretty soon, my brother was standing right behind me.

"We don't want you to go anywhere near him, you understand?"

Apple Bloom stood right next to me, and she was on my side.

"Leave her alone, you two. She was just hanging out with a friend, that's all. What's wrong with that?"

Big Mac tried to reason with her, but he didn't stand a chance. She got all up in his face, and he eventually backed down. Granny Smith, however, was very resistant, and showed no sign of defeat. At one point, she literally got up from her chair and grabbed my wrists.

"Keep a safe distance from him. Am I clear?"

I wanted to tell her no, but the look on her eyes were full of anger. Not like "you broke my phone" anger, but more like "I feel violent" anger. I never felt more scared in my life.

"Understood. I will not speak to him anymore."

"Good. Now get to bed, youngin. You got a busy day ahead o' ya."

Rainbow Dash's POV

I was thrilled to finally be able to sleep through one night without needing coffee in the morning.

I woke up, got out some cereal and a bowl, as well as some baby formula, and I was just about to grab Blitzy, when Johnny appeared next to me with a look of joy.

"Good morning, gorgeous."

"Hey, Johnny." I grabbed Blitzy, and headed towards the table, where Johnny grabbed the bowl of cereal and walked off.

"Come back here with that, twerp."

"Relax, Dashie. I'll get my own. Say, how was Blitzy last night? Give you any trouble?"

Johnny began to entertain Blitzy, when he threw his toy to the ground. Johnny picked it back up, when he threw it to the ground again, continuing the everlasting cycle.

Eventually, we got ready for school, and when we stepped outside, Applejack was walking past us, bawling her eyes out. We caught up to her, and began asking questions.

"You alright, AJ? You aren't usually this upset."

"*sniffle* G-g-granny Smith won't let me be near Jake anymore."

I was shocked, and Johnny was mostly confused.

"But Jake's a great guy. He's nice, honest to a fault, and he has good morals. May not always see the bright side of things, but whatever Granny Smith has against my best bud is still beyond me."

"She *sob* thinks that *hiccup* he got me *cough* pregnant, and *choke* she always holds strong to *sniffle* first impressions."

I knew what she was going through. My parents did the same thing to me. I ran away to tell my former crush that I loved him, only to hear that he didn't feel the same. I tried going back home, but my parents gave me a set of housekeys and an address. I went to said address, and the landlord greeted me, and yadda yadda yadda.

I decided I would give Granny Smith a piece of my mind later that day. I decided to walk with her to school. Skip ahead about seven or so hours, and I was standing in front of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack's POV

As I approached my home, Jake rushed up to us.

"Applejack. Thank goodness. I've been looking for you all day. I-"

He was cut short by a rock. It hit him straight in the side of his head, and he was out like a lightbulb. I may not be the brightest, but I knew who threw it and why.

"Granny. Why would you do that?" I realized I sounded like it was me instead of him.

"I thought I was clear last night. No contact with him at all." Rainbow decided to butt in there.

"For your information, he came up to her. And another thing, why would you-"

Suddenly, Apple Bloom rushed up to him. Her hand clamped over her mouth. When Rainbow Dash saw what she looked at, she copied her action.

"What is-holy shit! That ain't good. AJ, he's bleeding. Like, real bad."

Apple Bloom shoved us back. She claimed she knew how to handle this. I tried to tell her to let me handle it, but she sorta screamed.

"Applejack, I'm not a baby anymore. Let me deal with this!" I was shocked, but I confided in her.

She removed the rock, which was lodged in his head, and then removed the bow from her hair, knowing we didn't have any bandages. She wrapped her new fabric strip around his head, and then pressed her hands onto his wound.

Big Mac came over and handed her a small box, which she immediately placed under his head. I approached her, seeing her handiwork. She had indeed done a good job. I apologized for not originally trusting her. She forgave quickly, saying she understood why.

"Alright. This should keep him alive. If he doesn't wake up in a few minutes, he goes to the hospital. Granny, I can't believe you, hurting an innocent person like that."

She gave us menacing glares, but did nothing. Suddenly, Apple Bloom's friends appeared.

"Hey there, AB, you wanna-oh. Who's this?"

"Hello, Sweetie Belle. Granny just tried to kill Jake. How y'all doing?" Scootaloo just waved. Too bad about her laryngitis.

Apple Bloom's POV

Later, at the hospital, Jake was lying in one of those fancy beds, while my big sis and I were talking.

"Why do you treat me like a baby?"

She sighed. "AB, I just really care so much about you, and I don't want you to get hurt. Plus, after...you know."

"I know, AJ."

"When my baby died, I felt like I could never have children again, and with you being my li'l sis 'n' all..."

"I get it now. I'm sorry."

"*sigh* You're fine, it ain't your fault."

Suddenly, the doctor burst through the doors. He had a grim look on his face, but I knew it was just part of the job.

"Well, doc? How is he?"

"I hate to worry you, Ms. Apple, but I'm afraid he'll be unconscious for another 45 minutes, approximately. But fortunately, he should make a quick recovery. Just be aware, he may have some trouble keeping his balance, but otherwise, he is perfectly fine."

We all sighed in relief. Me, my big sis, his pals, Rainbow Dash, and that blue haired girl.

"Say, who are you? You look familiar. Have we met?"

She replied unhesitantly. "I'm Vinyl Scratch, though you may know me as DJ Pon3. I happen to be Jake's sister."

"Ooooooh. Gotcha. So how's life?"

"Kinda freaked out, you get me?"

"Same. So you're the famous 'DJ Pon3,' huh? Pretty sweet."

Vinyl kinda blushed. "I don't know if I'm _that_ famous yet. I spin records and mix tunes, that's all."

"I betcha Mike could help you out."

She tilted her head. "Who?"

He raised his hand. "That would be me, Vinyl."

Looking over, she smiled. "You really could?"

He shrugged. "I can't really work records well, but I'm good with a launchpad."

"Hmm...meet me in the auditorium after school tomorrow. I'd like to see you jam out."

Jake's POV

I woke up with a real bad headache. I heard the muffled sound of voices.

"...waking up..."

"...looks like...he feeling..."

"...looks okay...me. Hello, you there?"

I swatted Connor away. "Dude, I'm fine. Get outta my face...seriously, your breath is garlicky."

He breathed into his hand, smelled it, and gagged. Twithead.

Anywho, I sat up, getting a glimpse of my whereabouts, and I saw my sister, my pals, Rainbow Dash, and AJ 'n' AB. Ha. AJ 'n' AB, that sounds funny.

"Thank goodness you're alright, sugarcube. You had me worried sick."

"Hey there, Applejack. How is everyone?"

Needless to say, I got out in perfect condition, except my feet didn't go where I wanted them to. At one point, I learned what linoleum floors taste like. And lemme tell you, they taste like feet.


	27. Chapter 26: The Performance part II

Mike's POV

I met with Vinyl Scratch after school, in the spot she asked me to, bringing my launchpad with me.

"Hey, Vinyl. What's up?"

She shrugged. Funny, I felt like we met before, like, really long ago. Not exactly déja vu, but something like that.

I set up my launchpad, setting it to the proper program.

"Let's see, Beta 3f2q67rj...Gamma 6a0h3rql...Delta 2p8a59kq...ah, here we are, Alpha 4u2r36yt. Vinyl, prepare to have your mind blown. Before I begin, just know I'm only sampling about 40 songs. Just...be aware."

["Pop Culture" by Madeon]

I started out with a simple intro, which led into a jerky beginning phrase. The whole time, I had a preset beat going as I pressed the square buttons, playing clips and samples.

At one point, the main backtrack changed into the "Boys and Girls" clip for a bit, but changed back to the regular backtrack.

Eventually, it changed into the weird outro from "Aerodynamics" by Paft Dunk. It then changed into a transitional, which became a freestyle section, where I played my own notes, after which I did my outro, and finished.

"Man, that was awesome. So how come you don't, you know, do this live, or whatever?"

I hung my head. I knew I would eventually have to tell someone, but I didn't want to.

"I have a problem with performing live. Not stage fright, because I can totally act in a theater production, or participate in a poetry slam, but performing music is nerve wracking for me. It's easier with my buds, because, being a drummer, I'm behind them, as well as being covered by the drumset. With the launchpad, I'm totally exposed, and I suffer from musical autophobia." She somehow managed to listen to all of that.

"Wow, that's pretty intense. Sorry to hear that."

"No worries, it's not your fault. It's just who I am."

We sat for a while, before she spoke again.

"Maybe I can help you with that." I just sat there, feeling rather conflicted.

"Are you sure? Because you don't have to. I mean if ya wanna, you can, but if not-"

"Take a chill pill, dude. Of course I wanna do this."

~Three days later~

Connor's POV

Me, Mike, Alex, Johnny, and Jake are all lined up, ready to perform in front of the entire school. However, instead of drums, and guitars, Mike bought two extra launchpads. With my money. Without notifying me. I'm gonna kill him.

Mike was up first. He set up the launchpads, setting them up for his tune. He grabbed a microphone and made an announcement.

"Uh, hello, crowd. Um, I see there's a lot of people in this crowd, heh heh...*chirp chirp*...well, I guess, um, I'll just get started here, then, in the stage...with my stuff, so yeah...my stuff."

["The City" by Madeon]

_*thinking* Starting with an intro? How classic, Mike._

_There is a plaaaaace, in the distance,_

_A place that I've been dreamin' of._

_No, oh time and spaaaaace, don't exist there._

_We can dance like there's no tomorrow._

_There is a plaaaaaaaace..._

_No time and spaaaaaaaace..._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to..._

_I can feel the city, crumblin' around me,_

_Can't seem to find my way._

_I can see a bright light, crawlin' through the dark night,_

_Hopin' to find my way._

_And yeeeaaah, I had what I wanted,_

_It went away so fast, fast._

_And yeeeaaah, I've got to let go,_

_We can dance like there's no tomorrow._

_(so here we go)_

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to..._

_I can feel the heartbeat, underneath the concrete,_

_Just like a kickdrum plays._

_Runnin' in a straight line, guided by the streetlights,_

_Pushin' the dark away, hey eeyeah._

_And yeeeaaah, I had what I wanted,_

_It went away so fast, fast._

_And yeeeaaah, I've got to let go,_

_We can dance like there's no tomorrow._

_There is a plaaaaace, in the distance,_

_A place that I've been dreamin' of._

_No, oh time and spaaaaace, don't exist there._

_We can dance like there's no tomorrow._

_There is a plaaaaace, in the distance,_

_A place that I've been dreamin' of._

_No, oh time and spaaaaace..._

_We can dance like there's no tomorrow._

_(oh, Oh, OH!)_

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to, I got to find a way._

_I got to, I got to..._

_Tomorrow,_

_Tomorrow,_

_Yeah we can dance,_

_HEY!_

Mike ended his tune rather wonderfully, I must say. He walked off, and Johnny walked forward. He too set up for his composition.

"Alright. Like my best bud Mikey, I'll be performing a time with these doohickeys."

["You're On" by Madeon]

_Tell me whose side you're on.  
Tell me whose side you're on.  
You're on, You're on.  
Tell me whose side you're on._

_You have some nerve showing your face here._  
_It had been so long,_  
_I thought you'd disappeared._  
_Why'd you pretend that we're still so close?_  
_It was all too clear,_  
_We need love most._

_But damn girl, since you've come around, girl,_  
_Need to know right now, so,_  
_Won't you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on?_  
_Lately, I've felt the chance that maybe,_  
_You could become my baby,_  
_If you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on._

_Tell me whose side you're on._  
_You're on, you're on._  
_Tell me whose side you're on._

_It's been so long since I've heard your name._  
_I was losing hope,_  
_That you felt the same._  
_And it's been so long since I've seen your face,_  
_That in my own mind,_  
_I had been replaced._

_But damn girl, since you've come around, girl,_  
_Need to know right now, so,_  
_Won't you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on?_  
_Lately, I've felt the chance that maybe,_  
_You could become my baby,_  
_If you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on._

_Tell me whose side you're on._  
_You're on, you're on._  
_Tell me whose side you're on._

_Damn girl, since you've come around, girl,_  
_Need to know right now, so,_  
_Won't you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on?_  
_Lately, you've had the chance to maybe,_  
_You could become my baby,_  
_If you just_  
_Tell me whose side you're on._

That tune was a bit slow. He walked off, I walked forward.

"Alright, people, here's my tune."

["Imperium" by Madeon]

I decided not to sing to my tune, because, well, I'm not a real good singer.

Instead, I chose to do an instrumental, while I thought about how I came to this world.

I was a normal teenage boy, growing up in Cambridge, England. Sometimes, I would walk to the library, hoping to read the latest graphic novel. Other times, I'd ride my motorbike, getting a good look at the world around me.

One day I went for a bike ride. I had my Honda Gold Wing GL1800, a gift from my father after his Japanese vacation.

Like any normal bike ride, I headed out to the local pizza parlor, and boy, was I hungry. I ordered a meat lover's deluxe with a stuffed crust, extra cheese, and a side order of garlic breadsticks. It's a wonder that I don't pack on the pounds, as certain Americans had told me, because I'm almost a stick figure.

Anywho, I ate the whole thing, literally not gaining any weight at all, and after buying a bottle of Red Cola, I was off. However, _un_like any normal bike ride, I crashed into a passing car, and was flung from my bike. I flew through the air, and fell into a conveniently open manhole.

I fell down, farther and farther, and despite the darkness, I noticed my skin changing color to red. And I don't mean Native American red, but literally red, practically blood red.

I eventually hit some ground, starting to lose consciousness, as I saw a gray-colored girl walking towards me. And like that, I passed out.

As I was finishing my song, I looked for my adoptive sister, and upon finding her, I saw her passing out. I ran off the stage, bolting through the crowd until I reached her.

"Octavia? Are you there? Can you hear me?!"

"Connor? Is that you?" She sounded weak, like...like...

"Where's your inhaler?"

"..."

"No, no, no, you can't have forgotten it. Why? Why?" It was at that second why I began welling up in tears.

"...just...one of those days, I guess..."

I picked her up and began to haul her to the nearest hospital, which was barely distant at all. As soon as I got there, I burst through the doors and shouted at the top of my lungs.

"I NEED HELP! IS THERE A DOCTOR THAT CAN HELP ME?!"

Instantly, a doctor arrived, putting her on a stretcher and asked me to follow him.

"Does she use an inhaler?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Can I please see it?"

"She does not have it with her."

"Uh-oh."

I nearly had a heart attack. "What does 'uh-oh' mean?"

"It means I will have difficulty in restoring her."

I paralyzed. "Difficulty in restoring her?" I could only imagine how bad it would be.

Octavia's POV

I don't quite recall how long I was out, but I remember enjoying my brother's performance quite smashing. So smashing, I even decided to get a bit crazy. Big mistake. I had forgotten my inhaler, and when my brother was about to wrap up, I suddenly found it harder to breathe, and now here I am, with a gas mask on my face, lying down.

I looked around, and Connor was to my left.

"How's it going, Octy?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I just shrugged. He shrugged back.

"I'm just glad you're still alive."

I suddenly realized something. "You're performance, Connor. I'm sorry."

He spoke in a calm tone. "Hey, relax. You have nothing to worry about. You passed out right after my final note, so I'd call this perfect timing. Besides, you cut off Alex and Jake, the two boneheaded twits. I think it all turned out well."

I shook my head. "Connor, you know those two are your best friends. You can't just call them...boneheads, or whatever."

He sighed, knowing I was right again.

"Fine. I'm mostly just glad you're okay. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

The doctor came in with a grim look on his face.

"The results came back, and it looks like you'll be fine."

We both sighed in relief.

"However, I would recommend you not do any heavy lifting, hardcore exercising, or pretty much anything that requires lots of physical labor for a few weeks."

I Instantly got nervous at that. No heavy lifting? But I'm performing at a concert next week, and I play the cello.

The doctor was oblivious to my situation. "If you just follow that simple rule, you'll make a full recovery, and maybe even overcome your problem." He sent us home without another word.

On the way to my home, Connor looked at me with a disappointed look on his face.

"You think we could find anyone to fill in for you at your concert?"

We both thought for a moment, before I suggested...

"Why don't you fill in, Connor?"

He looked flustered. "What? But, but-"

"It's the same as when you play your, ahem, guitar. Not much different, really. And you even get a soli."

"But I barely do anything on my bass, just strum some strings, and usually just a few notes. Besides, I don't even know the music."

Connor tripped over the curb in front of my house, like the clumsy fool I know him to be. If only we weren't siblings.

We got inside, and I found a sheet of music conveniently lying around, and it was conveniently the music he needed. I handed it over to him, and he deadpanned.

"Touché."

"Oh, relax, dear brother. You'll do fine."

Blah blah blah, he got around to practicing it, and he kept a close eye on me to make sure I was okay.


	28. Chapter 27: The ConcertConfession

Octavia's POV

In due time, the concert took place. I attended, receiving looks of bewilderment. I dragged-erm, brought my dear friend Vinyl Scratch along. She, in turn, invited her brother, Jake, who invited his friends, and their friends.

We mostly hung out for a bit, enjoying some of the delicious little tidbits of high-class edibilities. We did talk, though. There was no avoiding that.

"Well, hello there, Octavia. What brings you here at this fine hour?"

I whipped my head around to locate the source of the voice. I grinned when I saw him.

"Hello, Alex. Wow, you look, um, surprising, to say the least."

He had donned a suit jacket, a yellow necktie, and he was wearing loafers, as well as the trademark hat. Based on what I heard from Connor, I didn't think he would dress up at all.

"What? Did Connor lie to you?"

"Well, he never told me you would dress up."

"Are you kidding? It's a formal event, sorta like that dance...man, that was frightening."

I asked him what about it was creepy, and he nearly choked on his fondue tidbit.

"Connor never told you?"

I shook my head, and in response, he told me a lot, how he was nearly killed, how he was..."lifted" during his performance, etc.

"Golly. Wackiest day of my life. Got a standing ovation, got a girlfriend, and nearly got killed. I'll never forget that day. How's your life?"

I fumbled over the right words, and when I couldn't find them, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Compared to your _one day_, my entire life is pretty boring."

"Sorry to hear that."

Anyway, a few minutes later, an attendee told us we had five minutes before the show started, so we finished with our miniature fondue tidbits and hurried to our seats, where the other three boys sat. However, you could barely recognize them. Johnny had combed his hair so that his signature "swoosh" was not present, Mike and Jake had ditched the hats, and they sat very quietly.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and the orchestra teacher spoke to the audience.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, we have the orchestra class, and they will be performing the tunes they have worked on for the past few weeks. However, our star student has sustained injuries preventing her from performing tonight, but fortunately, another has offered to fill in for her, and that is why we have been able to bring you our presentation tonight. So without further delay, this is the Canterlot High School Orchestra class."

I will admit, these tunes were rather dull. Wait, what am I saying? Hm, I guess Vinyl has had an influence on me.

Anywho, fifteen minutes later, the show ended, meaning we had to leave. I went up to Connor to personally compliment him.

"Dear brother, that was absolutely magnificent. I especially liked your soli."

He nodded with his response.

"My gratuity, dear sister. I found that certain area to be to my liking as well."

I cocked an eyebrow as I realized what was happening.

"Connor, must we do this?"

He smirked, catching my drift and not missing a beat.

"Why, I find it quite insulting that you question my ulterior desire to partake in this "proper etiquette competition" you made the decision to formulate, dearest Octavia."

I giggled at his strange way of speaking. Gosh, what a dork.

"Relax, sis, I'm just messing with you."

"*sigh* Good, because here, now, might not be a good idea. Jus' saying."

We walked home, him carrying my cello, and me carrying the sheet music. We talked for a bit, feeling better about our whole situation.

"Probably should've brought your inhaler in the first place. Then we could've avoided this whole situation."

"But Connor, I like having you do favors for me." I giggled a little, knowing full well that it was different.

"Well, just make sure you carry your inhaler with you next time, alright?"

"Fine. Why do you always have to nag on me? You know I can take care of myself just fine."

He gave up at that point. We got home, and I asked to have my cello in my room. He obliged, and he asked to spend the night. I tried to refuse, saying the others would worry, but I caved when he said he wouldn't be missed. We pretty much hit the sack after that, as Vinyl would say.

However, when I knew Connor was asleep (he's a heavy sleeper), I snuck into the closet across his room. I opened up, I grabbed a box, tiptoed away, and lifted its lid. Inside was a letter. I read it, and re-read it.A teardrop fell onto the parchment, causing the ink to run slightly, but otherwise not altering the words. I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't stir in the slightest.

"What are you doing up, Octavia?"

I remained silent. I heard him approaching me. I handed over the old paper, and he began reading.

_Dear Connor,_

_It's time you learned the truth about us. You are not my brother. You are my betrothed. When you first came into this world, I knew I wanted to be with you. My mother, Allegra Philharmonica, made it so we were to be married a year after we got out of high school. Please do not take this the wrong way. I treated you like my brother because I felt that in order to keep you around, I would have to be at least in the same neighborhood as you. I didn't know much at the time, so I felt those actions were necessary. If you do not love me like I do for you, I completely understand. I lied to you this whole time. I just want you to know that I love you. And not like a sibling or friend._

_Signed, Octavia Philharmonica._

Connor looked up from the parchment and at me, while I was now hanging my head.

"I can't believe you."

I immediately looked up. "Wh-what?"

"You lying, filthy scumbag. You've been holding these secrets to yourself this whole time."

I started crying. I tried to tell Connor to calm down, but he ignored me.

"This whole time. My god, my f***ing god, you are such a goddamn bitch. Some betrothed. Wouldn't even say it to my face. Let alone for a long time. What I hate most is-"

**Woah, woah woah. Woah. You really think I'd do that? Wow, the look on your face, ha ha. Hee hee, hoo. Okay, I've had my laugh. Yes, I'm cruel for that, she me. Let's rewind and try again.**

3rd person POV

Connor was dumbfounded. He said the first thing that he could think of.

"I can't believe you."

She immediately looked up. "Wh-what?"

"You really love me?"

She smiled, knowing he was accepting this situation. She looked at Connor, who had lowered himself to be eye level with her. He grabbed her shoulders, leaned forward, and kissed her. Their eyes closed, and they stayed this way for about a minute before separating.

"I love you too, dearest Octavia."

They decided to sleep together. As the pair climbed into bed, Connor spoke up.

"You know, if you had told me this earlier, we wouldn't be in this awkward situation."

She giggled. "Oh, you dork"

**A/N: Man, I'm late with this update. I apologize, fellow readers. I had a hard time coming up with any kind of storyline. Especially since I learned that I would be missing out on seeing "Wicked." Why must fate treat me like shit? WHY?! Anyway, for those who give a damn, I need some help getting ideas for my storyline for this story. I'd really appreciate it, and I promise to update as soon as humanly possible.**


	29. Chapter 28: The Escape

Connor's POV

I woke up, enjoying the silence of the house I had just stayed the night at. Although we were still both in high school, it already felt like we were a married couple. At least, to me it did.

I got up, careful not to wake my fiancé, and went to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl of cereal for myself. If only I could cook, I'd have whipped up a more decent breakfast. But it took me almost five years to get scones right, and I knew that was all I would ever be able to do.

After a few minutes, I heard footsteps, and I saw the girl of my dreams. Timberwolf skin, raven hair, violet eyes, and the face of an angel. If she were my sister, that most positively would have sounded awkward.

"Good morning, Octavia."

"Mornin' Connor. *yawn*."

I never realized this, but Octavia looks really cute in pink striped pajamas.

"Connor, any plans for today?" She grabbed a bowl of cereal for herself, as well as a cup of coffee.

"Nothing other than school, really."

She sighed. Nothing was said for the remainder of the morning until school began. We left for the building, running into the guys and girls.

The school was buzzing with joy, for it was Friday. And you know what happens on Fridays.

The school day surprisingly went fast. I met with Alex after school, sending the others home. It took about five minutes for him to show up, but show up he did.

"Hey Connor. What's up?"

"Hi, Alex. Listen, I need your advice."

"Well, you've come to the right place, my numb chum. Cooking a special Italian meal, speaking without an English accent, or writing like a modern author?"

"Actually, I need help with dating."

He stood there for a few seconds.

"Hm, a challenge. Might I ask who for?"

"Octavia."

"..."

He literally had a speech bubble with an ellipsis floating above his head. And no, he did not learn it from Pinkie Pie.

"Your sister?"

I think I blushed there. "Actually, she's my...*betrothed*"

"Huh?"

"She's my...*betrothed*"

"Uh...come again?"

"SHE'S MY BETROTHED!"

"Woah, chillax, dude. Just couldn't hear you is all, man." We literally got stares from all around.

"Listen man, I can still help you, but if you two are already engaged, why do ya need to impress her?"

"I figure if we're going to tie the knot anyway, I might as well make the wait less...boring. You know what I mean?"

He immediately smirked. "That's the spirit, buddy. Now, here's what you need to do..."

~5 minutes later~

"...and that's pretty much it. Oh, and try to let her know you're into her, though not directly. They take it as creepy."

"*sigh* And here I thought it would be more complicated than I wanted. Anywho, thanks, and wish me luck."

"Pfft. Like I need to. But even so, good luck."

Alex's POV

I left, knowing that I had just done my best bud an enormous favor. As I walked home, I decided to take the scenic route, through the town. I walked by Sugarcube Corner, and saw Fluttershy in the window. Thinking she was lonely, as her friends were not there, I went inside.

The bell above the door rang, alerting the people inside. Fluttershy whipped her head around, noticing me. She immediately tried to look busy, and it was there I knew something was amiss. Walking up to her, I had the strangest feeling she was not alone after all.

"Hey, Fluttershy, something wrong?"

"Oh, um, Alex, this is a bad time. You see, I'm meeting with my brother, and-"

"Hey, sweet cheeks. He givin' ya trouble?"

I saw the last person I'd expect her to be with.

"Oh, hey there, Dark Shadow."

I, meanwhile, just stood there.

"Hey buddy, I'm Dark Shadow, Fluttershy's boyfriend. And you are?"

"Leaving."

With that, I left, not looking back. I got home, paced up to my bedroom, and slammed the door behind me. Mike and Jake immediately noticed I was upset, judging by the footsteps I heard behind me.

"Hey, y'alright?"

...

"Mike, we should probably leave him. Good thing Connor 'n' Johnny left earlier."

I took my beanie, and I sunk my teeth into it as best as I could. Johnny isn't the only one with emotional issues. If I had a mood conflict, I wouldn't be too upset, but this was barrier-breaking. I knew I would not easily recover from this. No way in f***ing hell. I even admit to have acted like an immature five-year-old.

Instantly, my beanie ripped, and I didn't care. I threw it against the wall, and jumped up and down, screaming like Fred. You know, the teenager with the really high-pitched voice.

Later, I started beating against the wall, knowing I might break it, due to my unfathomable strength. I eventually _did_ break it. I left a giant crack, and it grew into a hole the size of Greenland.

I stepped inside, and I found a wallet, a piece of paper, and a container of pictures. I picked up the wallet, and there was about a thousand dollars in it. _Perfect. A little self-indulgence is just what I need._ The pictures were of Fluttershy and other guys (me included), and the paper was an unsent letter.

_Dear Alex,_

_First off, if you're reading this, you probably learned something heartbreaking. Some guy obsessed with time told me to write this and hide it here. I'm sorry. I know you loved me, and I loved you too. Sadly, I found another guy, and I knew I couldn't break it to you any other way. The pictures are of me with other guys, and they all met with the same fate as you. Notice, however, that they are not smiling very well. That's because they were different. You are the thirteenth boy I've been with. This is a sign that you get me back, but I couldn't tell you directly. You just had to find out this way._

_Your friend (hopefully), Fluttershy._

I crumpled the letter. I immediately had a mental sentence. _No, we aren't friends. You crushed me, and I can't accept that. I'm sorry, but from here on out, we're no longer on speaking terms._

I looked at the pictures. Tommy Twister, Normal Norman, Bulk Biceps, Valhallen, even Flash Sentry. She let them down harshly, I knew. I know it would be harsh if I dated another girl right in front of Fluttershy.

I snapped. Something inside me went cold. And stiff. Remember what happened with Pinkie Pie? On her own birthday? I was going through that right now. Only with me, I figured it wouldn't be resolved. My skin was grayed. My hair, all frizzy and tangled, went limp, and darkened to brown, almost black. My facial expression went lifeless.

I went out and bought a pair of skull earrings, a lip ring, face paint, and a spiked choker with matching bracelets. My usual plain white T-shirt was replaced by a black one with a dark grey skull and lots of tears and rips. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and put teal triangles under my eyes. No longer was I Alex. I was now...

...

Athanasius.

"Yo, Alex, you doing alright? You've been in there awhile" Mike. Obviously unaware of the situation.

"Thou shalt not address me as though I was your mere weakling friend, pitiful scumbag." I spoke in a voice significantly different from my own. While I usually spoke in a sorta high voice, I now possessed one you'd hear from a drug dealer.

"Oh shit. Jake!" And he was gone. I, meanwhile, partook in a bloodcurdling laughter.

Mike's POV

Godamn. Not here, not now. I don't need a repeat of our first year together. When Alex-ahem, _Athanasius_, was around, he nearly assassinated me. Fortunately, we converted him to the good side and changed his name before he did.

He was holding together greatly, but if he's back, then he had some plan for revenge. Since I was totally unprepared, I needed to warn Jake about this so we could evacuate. I know that sounds wimpy, but Athanasius is capable of more than you think.

"Jake! Jake, where are you? We got trouble. Big trou-"

"I'm here, I'm here, now what's the deal?"

"Alex has gone mental. More than usual. He's become some violent person. I tapped on the door, he nearly screamed his lungs out. We need to scram. I'll grab my stuff, then we pack up and leave. Trust me, I'm dead serious."

He nearly jumped out of his skin. He didn't question, didn't argue, didn't nothing. He just obeyed, and soon we had packed everything we owned. I grabbed a sticky note and scribbled onto it, then headed for the hills.


	30. Chapter 29: The Return

Johnny's POV

I pretty much just hung out with Rainbow Dash and Blitz. We talked, or blubbered in one case, then we ate, and hit the hay.

I woke up the morning, and bid my girlfriend goodbye, headed in the direction of my home. When I got to where the front door should've been, I realized something was wrong. I stepped inside, and heard noises from my left.

"Mph, mph, mphmphm."

I turned my head, and Connor was gagged and bound to a chair. I ran up to him, and removed his gag.

"Behind you." Right there, I began quickening. As I mentioned before, I can move lightning quick. The world changed to a pink shade. I whipped around, and came face to face with a frying pan. I grabbed it, removing from the grasp of...of...

"Athanasius?!" I slowed back down, and my enemy spoke.

"Well, would ya look at that? It appears I have another prisoner to capture."

"Not so fast, Alex."

"It's Athanasius, dimwit."

I sighed, knowing that even as a demonic, goth looking, depressed, homicidal maniac, he was still so stupid.

"Listen. I'll only say this once, Atha-whatever. If you don't let him go, I will personally take you on."

He revealed a cocky grin.

"Oh, ho ho. Getting feisty, are we?"

_Crap. I didn't wanna have to battle him. Oh well._

"Well, if it's a battle you want, then who am I to deny you one?"

He tried to lunge at me, but I got quick again, dodging his every move. Seriously, it wasn't hard. In fact, I felt a nap coming on. I suddenly had an idea.

I slowed down, and lured him away. As soon as I knew he was far enough, I sped up, grabbed Connor's chair and ran outside. I untied him, and slowed down.

"Go find the other guys and girls. Hurry." Without speaking, he ran off.

I ran back in to try to prevent the house from getting any more destroyed.

Jake's POV

Mike and I were playing some poker, when Connor came busting in.

"*pant* Man, I *pant* never thought *pant* I'd find you *pant* guys here. *pant* Why are you *pant* in the warehouse *pant* we danced at, anyway? *pant*"

I shrugged. "Seemed distant enough. Still don't know why I'm here, though. What happened to Alex?"

Connor sighed, having finally caught his breath. He spoke in a low tone.

"We don't really know, but he's changed into a homicidal lunatic. He wasn't always the cheerful bundle of joy I've come to barely tolerate. When I first met him, he had kidnapped fifteen people, and had planned to murder them, but I had found a way to change him. I won't say how, but it did work. Ask Mike. He was one of the victims."

Upon hearing that, he hung his head. "It's true. Connor here pretty much saved my life. And for that, I am infinitely grateful."

"Anyway, Johnny just rescued me from my own captivity, and sent me here to look for you and the girls."

We nodded, knowing that even though Johnny is not always the best planner, he definitely knew what to do in these situations.

Connor told me to follow him, and Mike to find the girls.

Mike's POV

I headed to Sugarcube Corner first. I ran inside, hollering the name of the pink girl. When she didn't appear, I asked the owners where she might be, and the Cakes said she was at the cottage near the forest.

I got to the cottage, and there were four girls standing outside.

"C'mon, Fluttershy. You've been cooped up in there for a whole day."

"Get on out here, sugarcube. We ain't got all day."

"Yeah, come out or we're comin' in."

"Darling, we really want to help."

I marched up to the door.

"Step aside, ladies. I'll handle this."

I knocked on the door, awaiting a response. When I didn't get one, I used a special maneuver. I pounded the top, the bottom, the middle, and elbowed it. This caused it to pop open.

"Fluttershy, where are you?" We searched the entire house, and found her in her closet.

"What're you doing here?"

Fluttershy was curled up, in a way that made her look as though I was trying to hurt her.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time, so I'll make this quick. We got a problem. We need your help, and it's very important that you help us. C'mon." I grabbed her, dashing out the door. I noticed the girls still standing there.

"C'mon, you too. It's urgent." They immediately followed me. Eventually, we got back to the house, or what was left. As far as I know, the front door was the only thing left standing. Ironically, I decided to step through it.

Johnny seemed to be doing fine defending against Athanasius, but he couldn't get him to surrender. The battle appeared to be deadlocked.

"Johnny, I have them gathered. What's the plan?"

He ignored me, and I figured he had no other choice anyway. After all, he was fighting a dangerous creature, and couldn't take his eyes off him for even a second.

I told the girls to join hands and use their magical stuffamajig. They did so, but without the magical stuffamajig. I facepalmed, knowing what went wrong. I decided to jump ahead a few chapters and grab Twilight Sparkle. Don't ask.

After returning to the present, she had the girls try again, and, to make a long story short, it still didn't work. Long version, it actually produced the magical stuffamajig, but Athanasius just absorbed it.

"Ha. Pathetic morons. You should *grunt* know I *grunt* spawned from a *growl* good guy. That stuff actually *grunt* helps me. *maniacal laughter*"

He started growing, like literally, taller, bulkier, and definitely meaner. Once he burst through the roof, he began rampaging through the city. But before he did that, he grabbed Fluttershy and held her captive in his massive fist.

He screamed like a beast, before heading for the tallest building he could find. This resulted in him climbing the Canterlot Town Square Building. All the while Fluttershy was screaming her lungs out.

The rest of us instantly headed towards said building, where Athanasius had climbed to the top, holding onto it with one hand and clutching Fluttershy in the other.

"Let me go, Alex. This isn't you."

"Oh, no, Fluttershy. It is. Ask any of them." Double take. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

I told the girls to try the magic show again, but with a negative effect. They did so, and just as planned, he began shrinking. He loosened his grip, and the pair began falling. The girls used their magic to grab Fluttershy. I unfurled my wings and grabbed Alex, who, in turn, tried to bite me.

Okay, time out! Before we continue, Athanasius is not naturally a vampire. However, he began suffering the effects of being bitten by Flutterbat a few weeks back. It was pretty much just sprouting wings and fangs. Fortunately, I dodged his fangs, because trust me, he also suffers from severe depression.

We landed on the ground, and a battle ensued between Athanasius and the rest of us.

He tried to use his fangs against us, but with our newfound pony powers, we could take him on. Yes, I learned I'm an alicorn, Connor's a unicorn, and Johnny's a pegasus. And Jake...well, he stood back and watched, resentment in his eyes. Since we couldn't get horns, mine and Connor's magic came from our hands.

We tried blasting him, but his wings either blocked him or got him out of the way. After about five minutes, we gave up. Fluttershy walked up to him, leaving us in confusion.

Fluttershy's POV

My plan was to talk to him about it. I walked up to him, ready to start a conversation, when my plan backfired with a snack sending me floating towards the rubble behind me.

"You. You're responsible for the creature I've become."

"Wha-"

"Taking my fragile heart. Shattering it. You could've said 'it's over.' Heck, calmly or harshly, who gives a damn."

"I'm-"

"But you went behind my back, and just like that, started dating another guy. No, 'we are done,' not even a, 'I hate being with you.' No anything, no nothing, holy shit."

"Alex-" He blasted a fireball in front of me.

"Alex is gone. The name is Athanasius."

I realized talk was futile. I tried walking up to him. I went and pressed my lips against his, but almost two seconds later, he shoved me away, engaging in bloodcurdling laughter.

"Wow, you're dumber than I thought. That's another thing. Connor, this is for all the times I've heard anything related to 'dumb' escape your lips." He immediately tried to blast Connor, but was blocked by...

Octavia's POV

...me. I jumped in front of him before he was hit. I took the shot, and fell to the ground, having gotten seriously wounded. Connor instantly hovered over me.

"No, no, no, not again. Why me? Why must I endure seeing you get injured, or passing out, or any of that. Why?"

"Connor, why must you fight with a friend? Why must you hurt someone you have a bond with?"

He waved his hand over me, and suddenly, my pain was gone, and I found it easier to breathe. I looked to the area I was hit, and there was no burn mark.

"Thanks. I didn't wanna die today."

"Rrrrrgh. Why must you ruin my day? Do you find a particular joy in causing me discomfort?"

Connor stood from where I was standing, and walked towards Alex.

"I do not find any pleasure in causing pain. I do not hate you as much as you think I do. I do indeed resent having to insult you. I do find great discomfort in mocking you. But only because when you are your happygolucky self, I get very annoyed.

"I tried once telling you calmly to keep it down, but I knew my request had fallen on deaf ears. I tried writing a note, only to find out you are less of an egghead than I am. Yes, I admit to being an egghead. You continued your antics, and at that point, I actually began suffering from headaches. There was only one option I found veritable enough to work. Mockery. I admit, at first, I felt proud, for it shut you up quick.

"However, I soon came to regret my actions, yet I had grown accustomed to my routine of name-calling. And now, here we are, you trying to destroy us, and I, on the side I really didn't expect to be on. I genuinely thought I would be in your position, trying to wipe out an entire population. But instead, you're there, trying to wipe out an entire population. Tell me, why are you doing that? If it's just your ex-girlfriend you're upset with, why are you trying to destroy an entire town of people? What is your purpose?"

Connor's POV

After finishing my monologue, I stepped back, awaiting a response. When I saw his hair changing to blond, I knew things were getting better. His skin whitened. His hair got all frizzy and blond, and his wings dissipated. You know, noticeable things. When finished, he collapsed to the ground. Fluttershy ran up to him.

"Alex, are you alright? Wake up."

She shook him violently. Suddenly, the sirens appeared from nowhere.

"So what'd we miss?"

The unconscious boy suddenly bolted.

"Where have you been? We've had a lot of awesome times. We did...*blah blah blah*"

Sonata placed a finger on his lips.

"Relax, Alex. We decided to hold back and observe from outside."

"Huh?"

She snapped her fingers, and everything went dark. Suddenly, a helmet was being taken off my head.

"Surprise. You've been living in a virtual world."

I was speechless. Me, Mike, Jake, Johnny, and Alex had been living in a virtual world for...um...

"How long were we here?"

"Ever since the dance. When Alex got hit by the box, we saw an opportunity, and knocked the rest of you out, including the girls." Aria gestured to her left, where the other girls were indeed lifting helmets off their heads.

"Why, exactly, did you do this?"

"Boredom."

At that moment, ten facepalms were witnessed. But wait...

"So this happened after Alex did his performance? Where he floated in the air?"

"Everything was real up until after the dance, when Alex saved Fluttershy from the box."

"And Octavia is still just my sister?"

...

I asked again.

"Well, actually, at some points, we took you out of the virtual world. Octavia really is your betrothed, Connor."

I bolted out of the warehouse. I ran for Octavia's house. I found her sitting on her couch. I grabbed her.

"Connor, you're back. Where were you?"

Without a word, we locked lips.


End file.
